Department for Transport

Railways: Infrastructure

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to tackle cable theft on railway infrastructure in (a) Tyne and Wear, (b) North East England and (c) the UK.

Joseph Johnson: British Transport Police (BTP) engages in regular enforcement activity to combat cable theft, as well as joint working with partner agencies such as local police forces, local authorities, the environment agency and other stakeholders such as HMRC, VOSA and Network Rail. BTP response teams in the North East continue to focus patrol and investigative resources in cable theft hotspots. BTP is using a number of tactics, both covert and overt, to investigate these offences. BTP also uses technological solutions to combat cable theft. Within the last fortnight three suspects in the Hartlepool Area have been arrested for cable theft and the matter is being investigated.

East Coast Railway Line

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the east coast main line change in ownership will affect the new train services to Lincoln scheduled to begin in 2019.

Joseph Johnson: The change of operator is not expected to have any impact on this issue. We expect to provide additional services between London and Lincoln from May 2019.

Cycleways

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department plans to allocate to dedicated cycle networks similar to London's cycle superhighways in (a) cities and (b) towns throughout the UK.

Jesse Norman: The Government’s statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, published in April 2017, outlines £1.2 billion of funding that may be invested in cycling and walking in England over the period to 2021. Funding for cycling infrastructure in the rest of the UK is a matter for the devolved administrations. Since the Strategy’s publication, the Government has made further support available for cycling and walking infrastructure in England, through the National Productivity Investment Fund, Transforming Cities Fund and Clean Air Fund. Decisions on allocating funding for dedicated cycle networks are for local authorities, who allocate and/or bid for funding alongside other local priorities. In addition, the Department for Transport is providing 44 local authorities in England with access to expert support to assist in the development of ten-year Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans. This support will enable authorities to map their future cycle networks and to prioritise future investments.

Cycling: Accidents

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cyclists have (a) been injured and (b) died from cycling-related accidents in (i) York and (ii) the UK in each of the last eight years.

Jesse Norman: The table below shows the number of pedal cyclists killed or injured in reported road accidents involving personal injury in York and in Great Britain, for the years 2009 to 2016.  YorkGreat BritainYearNumber of pedal cyclists killedNumber of pedal cyclists injured (serious or slight)Number of pedal cyclists killedNumber of pedal cyclists injured (serious or slight)2009113210416,9602010012311117,0742011112310719,1082012013911818,9732013014810919,3292014019111321,1742015016510018,7442016017910218,375 Source: DfT STATS19 To put these figures into context, the miles cycled in Great Britain rose from 2.97Bn miles in 2009, to 3.45Bn in 2016, a 16 per cent increase. The Department does not hold data for Northern Ireland and therefore publishes statistics on reported road accidents and casualties for Great Britain only.

Northern: Compensation

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much compensation Northern Rail has paid to passengers for delays and cancellations since the start of the current franchise.

Joseph Johnson: This government has made it easier than ever before for rail passengers to claim compensation if their train is late or cancelled. 2016/17 figures have been published and I can confirm Northern’s compensation figure was £326k; an 88% increase on the previous year’s figure. Passenger compensation figures are published each year and can be found on the Department’s website. 2017/18 figures will be published in due course.

Trains: Hydrogen

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the date on which the first UK trains will be converted to run on hydrogen.

Joseph Johnson: Alstom have recently proposed a trial of trains converted to run on hydrogen in the North in association with Eversholt and Arriva Rail North and will need to develop a business case accordingly. The target date for these trains entering service will be dependent on both the business case and on the regulatory approvals being given.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage the use of (a) recycled plastic materials and (b) other innovative and durable techniques for road repairs.

Jesse Norman: The use of recycled plastic materials as a component in road surfacing is not widespread. Officials at the Department for Transport are, however, aware that it has been used in a small proportion of England’s strategic road network for high friction surfacing materials, and on one short stretch of public road in England.Officials from the Department have been in discussion with Cumbria County Council, which is trialling the use of recycled plastic materials in their road resurfacing, and with the company that supplies the material. They will continue to monitor the situation and any outcomes, positive or negative, from the trial currently underway.The Department is also encouraging local highway authorities to trial new innovations and technology to help repair the roads for which they are responsible. The Department recently announced that it is working in collaboration with the Association of Directors of Environment, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) on future-proofing the local road network through the use of smart infrastructure and new materials.

Public Transport: Lancashire

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidences of sexual assault have been recorded on public transport in Lancashire in the last five years.

Joseph Johnson: Crimes such as sexual assault on the railway, are recorded by British Transport Police (BTP). The Department does not hold information on other forms of public transport. Please see below the number of sexual offences recorded on the national rail system in Lancashire within the last five years. The data has been split into two categories which are Sexual Offences on Trains and Sexual Offences On and Off the Trains; this includes trains, car parks and public toilets within the station. Lancashire County On Train Sex Offence Crimes 2012 to 2017Lancashire County On and Off Train Sex Offence Crimes 2012 to 2017YearCrime CountYearCrime Count201272012102013620139201452014920157201511201662016102017620178Grand Total37Grand Total57

Driving Under Influence

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timescale is for the commencement of s15 of the Road Safety Act 2006.

Jesse Norman: Section 15 of the Road Safety Act 2006 has not been commenced. For commencement, primary legislation would be required to amend section 16 and no timescales are currently planned for this. To date, the Government has not supported the mandatory use of alcohol interlocks as the disadvantages associated with such a scheme, including lack of evidence of long term behavioural change, ease of circumventing the device, and high installation and maintenance costs, together outweigh any potential benefits. The Government will continue to enforce vigorously against drink drivers, and changes in the law in April 2015 made it a requirement for high risk offenders to undertake medical tests to ensure they are not still dependent before they are allowed to drive again.

Motor Vehicles

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to tackle motorists using (a) illegal exhausts and (b) other disallowed modifications.

Jesse Norman: The Government has taken a number of recent steps to reduce the use of illegal vehicle modifications, including illegal exhausts. As of 20 May 2018, vehicles will fail their MOT where evidence is found that emissions control systems have been tampered with. As announced in the Clear Air Strategy, new legislation will make tampering with an emissions control system an offence. DVSA has also introduced roadside checks for emissions cheat devices in Heavy Goods Vehicles, with 388 devices found in 10,237 vehicles searched by the end of February 2018. Where devices are found, drivers and operators are given 10 days to fix the emissions system or face a £300 fine and having the vehicle taken off the road (with vehicles being immediately taken off the road for repeat offenders).

Driving: Visual Impairment

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions has he had with Cabinet colleagues on the suggestion of the Secretary of State for Tranport's Honorary Medical Advisory Panel that a period of up to three months driving tuition be offered prior to a visual exceptional case group 1 driving assessment.

Jesse Norman: There has been no discussion between the Secretary of State for Transport and Cabinet colleagues on this issue. However, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has adopted the Panel’s recommendation. The DVLA’s doctors will consider each case to determine the appropriate amount of time the individual needs for training and re-familiarisation prior to the driving assessment. A provisional disability driving licence will then be issued for that period, up to a maximum of three months, to those that meet the exceptional case criteria.

Roads: Safety

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing road safety targets in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: There is no robust academic evidence to indicate that the setting of any targets in the UK would contribute to progress in road casualty reduction. In fact there has been a stalling of progress in road casualty reductions across many economically advanced countries, affecting countries with targets (e.g. Sweden and the Netherlands). The British Road Safety statement sets out the Department for Transport’s overall principles and priorities in relation to British road safety. Local authorities, the police and other bodies are free to set their own road safety targets if they wish.

Members: Correspondence

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Hon Member for Hereford, the Transport Minister, plans to respond to the letter sent to him by the Batched on Site Association on 25 April 2018; and if he will place a copy of that response in the Library.

Jesse Norman: I am arranging for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Library.

Railways: Disability

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps have been taken to improve passenger safety on trains for people with disabilities.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government will publish an Inclusive Transport Strategy later this year. We expect all train operating companies to ensure the safe transport of all passengers, including those with disabilities, and meet their legal duties.

Bus Services: Greater Manchester

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money from the public purse was spent on subsidised bus routes in Greater Manchester in each year since 2010.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Up until 31 December 2013 Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) was paid directly to bus operators and wasn’t split between commercially run or subsidised bus services. We are therefore unable to provide figures for this period. From 1 January 2014 local authorities have received funding equivalent to the level of BSOG which would otherwise have been paid to operators for running subsidised services. Details of the amounts paid to local authorities each year can be found on the “Payments to Local Authorities” tab on the relevant spreadsheets published on the .gov website.

East Coast Railway Line

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost was of the Virgin East Coast re-branding of the East Coast line trains including (a) the repainting rolling stock and (b) changes staff uniforms; who is liable for the cost of that re-branding; and whether a further re-branding be necessary.

Joseph Johnson: When Virgin East Coast took over the East Coast Franchise from Directly Operated Railways (DOR), Virgin chose to re-brand at their own expense. The current Franchise Agreement requires Virgin East Coast to pay for the removal of the Virgin brand, again at their expense.

Air Routes: Europe

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of flights between non-UK EU airports that are run by UK airline operators.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport does not routinely collect or publish information pertaining to the number of flights travelling between non-UK EU airports that are operated by UK registered airlines.

Roads

Mr Simon Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress the Government has made on the establishment of the Major Road Network.

Jesse Norman: Last December the Department launched a consultation on ‘Proposals for the creation of a Major Road Network’ which closed on 19th March. A formal consultation response will be published during summer 2018 prior to the expected launch of the Major Road Network (MRN) programme before the end of the year.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Nuclear Power: Regulation

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on what date the most recent UK State System of Accountability and Control Project Highlight Assessment was (a) produced by the Office for Nuclear Regulation and (b) assessed by the Secretary of State.

Richard Harrington: The most recent UK State System of Accountability and Control Project Highlight Assessment covered the period to the end of April 2018. The Secretary of State is regularly updated on the Department’s delivery of EU Exit programmes.

Nuclear Power: Risk Assessment

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of the high level risks on the most recent UK State system of Accountability and Control Project Highlight Assessment are categorised as (a) red, (b) amber and (ci) green under the RAG coding system.

Richard Harrington: The UK State system of Accountability and Control Project Highlight Assessment is a project management tool that is regularly updated to facilitate oversight of the project and enable the identification and escalation of risks within the Programme governance. The particular risk descriptions and ratings identified in this report are constantly evolving as part of the ongoing project delivery.

Nuclear Power: Regulation

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to publish a draft charging agreement for the a new nuclear safeguarding regime.

Richard Harrington: Any decision to introduce cost recovery and charging arrangements for the safeguards regime would be subject to close engagement with industry and other key stakeholders, as well as public consultation. If the decision is made that the Office for Nuclear Regulation should be able to recover costs from industry, further appropriate consultation and engagement on the detail of the arrangements would take place.

EURATOM: Equipment

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) purchasing and (b) decommissioning nucler safeguarding equipment from Euratom.

Richard Harrington: The UK Government is committed to having all necessary equipment in place to ensure continuity of safeguards operations when the UK leaves the EU and Euratom. Article 80 of the draft Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union, of 19 March 2018, provides for the transfer of safeguards equipment from the Euratom Community to the United Kingdom, and states that “[t]he United Kingdom shall reimburse to the Union the value of that equipment and other property, calculated based on the value assigned to that equipment and other property in the consolidated accounts for the year 2020.” As the subject of on-going negotiations, it is not possible at this stage to provide details on specific equipment and its valuation.

Nuclear Power: Regulation

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans for the new Safeguards Information Management and Reporting System to be fully operational.

Richard Harrington: When Euratom safeguards arrangements no longer apply to the UK, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) will regulate safeguards in the UK, and will be responsible for ensuring arrangements to deliver this are in place. This will include a Safeguards Information Management and Reporting System. The ONR will have in place the IT system and safeguards inspectors needed to ensure the UK continues to meet international obligations when we leave Euratom.

Conditions of Employment: Enforcement

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to implement the recommendations of the UK Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2018-19.

Andrew Griffiths: The Government has made clear its commitment to crack down on worker exploitation across all sectors of the labour market and welcomes the Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2018 -19. There is significant crossover and alignment between this strategy and the government's response to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices and subsequent consultations. The Government will publish a response to the Director of Labour Market Enforcement's strategy later this year, once the consultations have closed and the government has considered the responses.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Election Observers

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the Government has to establish UK electoral observation missions to monitor elections in other countries after the UK has left the EU.

Mark Field: ​UK officials and private citizens take part in electoral observation missions organised by international organisations such as the OSCE, Commonwealth and the EU. The Government does not organise such missions unilaterally. After the UK has left the EU, UK officials and private citizens will continue to take part in electoral observation missions organised by international organisations of which the UK is a member or is otherwise eligible to participate.

Middle East: Peace Negotiations

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the Middle East peace process continues in a fair and legitimate manner.

Alistair Burt: ​At this highly sensitive time in the region, there is an urgent need to restart the peace process between Israel and Palestine. We regularly press both parties to resume direct negotiations towards a two-state solution. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Palestinian Authority President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on 16 May and reiterated the need for progress.

Israel: Arms Trade

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what role his Department has in ensuring that UK arms exports to Israel are not being used in contravention of UK National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.

Alistair Burt: ​We assess all applications very carefully against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. Human rights and international humanitarian law considerations are important parts of that assessment. We keep the situation under constant review.

Noura Hussein

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to (a) the government of Sudan and (b) other governments in that region on the case of Noura Hussein.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK Ambassador to Sudan raised our deep concern about Noura Hussein's case at a senior level with the Government of Sudan on 15 May, making clear our strong opposition to the use of the death penalty and to forced marriage. We released a statement on the same day in partnership with EU member states and others confirming our firm opposition to the death penalty and calling on all States to join a moratorium on its use, while working towards its definitive abolition.

Nnamdi Kanu

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has any information on the whereabouts of Mr Nnamdi Kanu who was last seen in Nigeria in September 2017.

Harriett Baldwin: We have made representations to the Nigerian authorities for information about Mr Kanu's whereabouts since September 2017. The Nigerian authorities stated publicly in March 2018 that they did not know Mr Kanu's whereabouts. We continued to press and on 27 April our High Commission issued a further Note Verbale to the Foreign Ministry in Nigeria following up our previous representation

Peking University: Oxfordshire

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent (a) discussions he has had with and (b) representations he has received from (i) Peking University HSBC Business School and (ii) his Chinese counterpart on a potential campus at Foxcombe Hall in Oxfordshire.

Mark Field: Holding answer received on 24 May 2018



The British Council has discussed plans for the proposed campus at Foxcombe Hall with Peking University. This has included talks with the Communist Party’s Secretary for the University, Dr Hao Ping, as part of a wider dialogue on the future of UK-China Higher Education co-operation. Officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have also had some communications with UK representatives of the University about an event at the campus in March.

Israel: Palestinians

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on securing peace in Gaza.

Alistair Burt: There is an urgent need to address the situation in Gaza. I most recently discussed Gaza with Jason Greenblatt, the President's Special Representative for International Negotiations, on 4 April. I stressed the need for restraint and discussed the importance of bringing forward proposals to adrress the situation in Gaza. The Foreign Secretary discussed the situation in Gaza with Jared Kushner in Washington DC on 7 May. Our Embassy in Washington DC also regularly discusses the situation in Gaza with US Government officials.

Saudi Arabia: Human Rights

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the recent detention of leading women’s rights activists in that country.

Alistair Burt: ​We are concerned by reports of these arrests and are monitoring them closely. The Foreign Secretary has raised our concerns with the Saudi authorities.

USA: Foreign Relations

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his US counterpart on appropriate (a) behaviour and (b language of the US president for his visit to the UK.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign Secretary spoke to his US counterpart about the President’s upcoming visit to London during his visit to Washington on 7 May. The Foreign Secretary made clear that we looked forward to welcoming President Trump in July.

Attorney General

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002: Prosecutions

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions have been initiated by the (a) Crown Prosecution Service and (b) Serious Fraud Office against corporate bodies for offences committed under (i) section 327-329 and (ii) section 330 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2017.

Robert Buckland: This answer is based on ‎reference having been intended to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 rather than 2017.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of prosecutions against corporate bodies for offences committed under (i) section 327-329 and (ii) section 330 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Nor is it possible to identify whether the defendant was a corporate body. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.The SFO has not prosecuted any cases under these sections of the 2002 Act.

Department of Health and Social Care

Psychiatry: Children and Young People

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of child and adolescent mental health psychiatrists who have been hired in the (a) London Borough of Lewisham and (b) UK in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information is not available in the format requested. NHS Digital publishes information on the number of child and adolescent psychiatrists in the National Health Service in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England each month. This data will not include those working for other employers such as local authorities and the private sector. Nor does it include bank and agency staff, or staff working in primary care. The statistics are not broken down by individual constituencies, local authorities or staff working in a specific county as NHS trusts cross county borders.

Mental Health: Nurses

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many mental health nursing commissions his Department plans to offer in each of the next five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: On 1 August 2017, the Government implemented the revised funding system for nursing, midwifery and allied health professional students, meaning that courses in these professions are no longer centrally commissioned. Further to the announcement of 9 May, the Government is considering the most effective way to implement the ‘golden hello’ incentive scheme for postgraduate nursing students. The current intention is that these payment incentives will be made available for future postgraduates who completed courses funded by loans in the 2018/19 academic year. The golden hello payments are anticipated to be contingent on these graduates working in specific fields of the health and care sector including mental health, learning disability and community, including district, nursing. The detail of the scheme is being developed by the Department. Officials will engage with stakeholders as part of finalising proposals; including determining whether it is in the best interests of the National Health Service to split out the numbers eligible for a payment determined by branch of nursing. The conclusions of this will inform assessments of the potential impact of such incentives.

Rare Diseases

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase investment in research into rare conditions.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government supports research into common and rare diseases through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). In 2016 my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced a £816 million investment in the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres, over five years from 1 April 2017, which has been awarded to 20 leading National Health Service and university partnerships across England. Each of the 20 NIHR Biomedical Research Centres hosts the development of new, ground-breaking treatments, diagnostics, prevention and care for patients in a wide range of diseases and has considerable expertise, capacity and activity in research for rare diseases. The NIHR Clinical Research Network is available to support the set-up and timely delivery of commercial and non-commercial studies and trials in England which would include studies on rare diseases. Rare diseases patients also benefit from the pioneering research as part of the 100,000 Genomes Project. As of late 2017, over 2,000 researchers in 342 United Kingdom and international institutions were part of Genomics England’s Clinical Interpretation Partnership, which have been set up improve understanding of genomic medicine and its application to healthcare; improve understanding of diseases; and lead the way to developing new diagnostics and treatments.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many young people under the age of 18 were referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in the South East of England in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Data setting out estimated number of referrals to child and adolescent mental health services in the south east of England for 2016 (May to December), 2017 and 2018 (January and February) is included in the following table.2016 (May-December)2017 (January-December)2018 (January – February)4,41515,3154,570 It should be noted that this is a count of referrals and not of people; it is possible that one person could have multiple referrals in a year. It is also worth highlighting that where the number of referrals was less than five in any one month, they have not been included and that other values have been rounded to the nearest five to minimise disclosure risks associated with small numbers. As such, the totals provided are the sum of these monthly figures and so annual totals will differ from the true totals. Data is unavailable prior to May 2016. Data on children and young people was only collected as part of the Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS) from January 2016 and the relevant measures were developed in May 2016. The number of providers which have submitted data has improved over time, and as such, figures presented here must be interpreted with these coverage changes in mind. Due to coverage issues, the number of referrals presented is likely to be an undercount and may partly explain why the number of referrals appeared to have increased so rapidly across 2016-18. It is also worth noting the total for 2016 only covers six months, and the total for 2018 only covers two months, whereas the total for 2017 covers the full 12 months. MHSDS is an experimental dataset and we expect coverage to improve over time.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding has been allocated from the public purse for youth mental health services in (a) Kent and (b) Medway in 2018-19.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Details of clinical commissioning group spend on children and young people’s mental health services are published on the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health Dashboard. This is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/taskforce/imp/mh-dashboard/ As a local system, Kent and Medway is committed to ensuring that children, young people and their families and carers, can access the most appropriate support to meet their needs. This includes ensuring that children and young people receive appropriate treatment in the right place at the right time.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to reduce waiting times for access to mental health services in (a) the South East, (b) Kent and (c) Medway.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There are national waiting time standards for early intervention in psychosis and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies. By 2020, local areas will also be expected to ensure that 95% of children and young people with eating disorders are seen within four weeks, with a one week target for urgent cases. At a national level, we are exceeding our waiting time standards on early intervention in psychosis and improving access to psychological therapies. We are also on track to meet our eating disorder waiting time target by 2020. 2018/19 Planning Guidance establishes clear expectations for what all commissioners and providers, including those in Kent and Medway, need to deliver. This is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/refreshing-nhs-plans-for-2018-19/ Details of clinical commissioning group performance against key waiting time standards are available in NHS England’s Five Year Forward View for Mental Health dashboard. This is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/taskforce/imp/mh-dashboard/

Haemophilia

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the availability of mental health support for people with haemophilia; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England commissions services for patients with haemophilia according to a service specification which includes reference to mental health including counselling services. We are not aware of any existing or planned assessment of mental health services specifically for patients with haemophilia. NHS England does not collect data which detail the use of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services by people with haemophilia. NHS England’s “Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) for Long Term Health Conditions and Medically Unexplained Symptoms” pathway, published in March 2018 sets out a pathway to integrate mental health support for people with long-term health conditions (which could include haemophilia) and medically unexplained symptoms. Further details are available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/the-improving-access-to-psychological-therapies-iapt-pathway-for-people-with-long-term-physical-health-conditions-and-medically-unexplained-symptoms/

Learning Disability: Nurses

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to attract more people into a career in learning disabilities nursing.

Stephen Barclay: The Department, working closely with Health Education England (HEE), NHS England, NHS Improvement and Skills for Care, is planning marketing campaigns to increase recruitment across the health and care system. The campaigns will set out the values and opportunities presented by a career in the National Health Service. The Department is also working with HEE and the university sector to ensure students continue to apply for nursing courses, including learning disability nursing courses, up to the end of clearing in September 2018. Further to the announcement of 9 May, the Government is considering the most effective way to implement the ‘golden hello’ incentive scheme for postgraduate nursing students. The current intention is that these payment incentives will be made available for future postgraduates who completed courses funded by loans in the 2018/19 academic year. The golden hello payments are anticipated to be contingent on these graduates working in specific fields of the health and care sector including mental health, learning disability and community, including district, nursing. The detail of the scheme is being developed by the Department. Officials will engage with stakeholders as part of finalising proposals; including determining whether it is in the best interests of the NHS to split out the numbers eligible for a payment determined by branch of nursing. The conclusions of this will inform assessments of the potential impact of such incentives.

Brain Cancer

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase funding for research into brain cancer beyond those set out in his Department's press release of 14 May 2018 entitled Government announces £40 million for brain cancer research in honour of Tessa Jowell; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government has announced £40 million over the next five years for brain tumour research, which will now be referred to as the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Research Fund as part of the Dame Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission. Funding will be invested through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to support a wide range of research from early translation (experimental medicine) through clinical and on to applied research. In essence this will support the translation of laboratory discoveries into treatments and better care for patients. In doing this the NIHR will work closely with its partners, including other Government funders such as the Medical Research Council (MRC), and charities such as Cancer Research UK and the brain tumour charities. The NIHR has published a call to increase research on brain tumours, which encourages collaborative applications that demonstrate how they build on recent initiatives and investment in the area made by the NIHR, the MRC and other research funders.

Department of Health and Social Care: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many contractors have been employed by his Department for (a) up to one year, (b) between one and five years, (c) between five and 10 years and (d) over 10 years.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department has since December 2013 used a Call off Contract from the Crown Commercial Services Contingent Labour One framework RM960 for the hire of temporary workers. The information below has been provided by the suppliers on the call off contract - Capita and Brook Street. Brook Street - temporary workers employed up to one year – 170- temporary workers employed between one and five years – one Capita The data provided by Capita shows that the total number of temporary workers hired by the Department from December 2013 to April 2018 was 535. It is not possible to establish the continuous length of time each worker was hired from Capita to work for the Department due to the limitations of the available data. Information on temporary workers for periods prior to December 2013 is not held centrally. The Department also uses various suppliers from the Crown Commercial Service Non-Medical Non-Clinical framework RM971 for the recruitment and hire of temporary workers. There is no central data captured to show lengths of service for these workers.

Social Services

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on how many occasions the Care Quality Commission has (a) required registered care providers to produce a plan to (a) mitigate or (b) eliminate risk to the sustainability of their business and (b) arranged for, or required the provider to arrange for, a person with appropriate professional expertise to carry out an independent review of that business in each quarter since Section 55 (2) of the Care Act 2014 came into force.

Caroline Dinenage: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has provided the following response. The CQC does not routinely require adult social care providers to prepare risk mitigation plans. Instead, the CQC’s Market Oversight team aims to understand each provider’s short to medium term strategic plan, their individual business drivers and how they compare within relevant peer groups so it can consider this information alongside the CQC published ratings data. This approach allows each provider’s key risks to be established and discussed, typically with the provider’s Board. If the response or explanation from a provider is not satisfactory, the CQC will escalate discussions to include wider stakeholders such as the owners/financers of the provider. The instruction of an independent business review is a last resort after all other avenues have been exploited. Since Market Oversight was launched in April 2015, the CQC has either directly instructed or been involved in existing work that was being undertaken on three separate occasions – Quarter 1 of the financial year 2017-18, Quarter 4 2017-18 and Quarter 1 2018-19. However, there have been at least a further 14 instances when Market Oversight has reviewed detailed management plans and engaged directly with a provider’s advisors to satisfy itself with the feasibility of a provider’s risk mitigation activity and, thus, the sustainability of the provider. To protect the commercial sensitivity and confidential financial information submitted to the Market Oversight team, the CQC does not provide detailed information on specific providers in the scheme. The Department published statutory guidance outlining local authorities’ roles and responsibilities in the event of business failure. The Government is continuing to work with local authorities to ensure they have effective and up-to-date contingency plans in place. The Department has worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Information Unit to develop further guidance on contingency planning for provider failure.

Social Services

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many early warnings has the Care Quality Commission issued to local authorities on the potential market failure of difficult to replace social care providers; and how many local authorities have received such warnings in each quarter since the market oversight provisions of the Care Act 2014 came into force.

Caroline Dinenage: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has provided the following response. The CQC’s application of the Market Oversight legislation is that it will provide a notification to impacted local authorities when it is satisfied that service cessation as a result of business failure is likely. This is commonly referred to as a ‘stage 6’ notification. This criterion has only been satisfied on one occasion, in Q1 of the financial year 2018/19, when the CQC provided the relevant notification to a single impacted local authority in relation to a single care home.

Social Services

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on how many occasions local authorities have exercised their duties to meet an adult’s needs for care and support as a result of the business failure of a registered care provider in each quarter since Section 48 of the Care Act 2014 came into force.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is not held centrally.

Social Services

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the differences in (a) the level of fees paid by each local authority to social care providers and (b) the proportion of residents in each local authority area who fund their own social care without local authority support; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: No assessment has been made of the level of fees paid by local authorities to social care providers and no data is collected centrally on the number or proportion of self-funded clients in each local authority. Commissioning social care is a matter for local authorities who are best placed to understand the needs of local people and communities, and how best to meet them. The Care Act 2014 placed a duty on local authorities in England to promote a diverse, sustainable, high quality market of care and support providers for people in their local area. We have given local authorities in England an extra £2 billion over the next three years to maintain access for our growing aging population and allow councils to sustain a diverse care market including care home places. The Department is supporting local authorities to influence their local market through improved market facilitation and commissioning to ensure that local markets are effective.

Social Services

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on how many occasions care home providers have handed back contracts to provide social care to local authorities in each year since 2009-10.

Caroline Dinenage: We do not collect data about local contracting. Commissioning high quality social care is the responsibility of local government who are best placed to understand the needs of local people and communities, and how best to meet them. Where a care provider ‘hands back’ a contract to a local authority, the authority remains responsible for meeting the needs of people who previously had services provided under the contract and for arranging replacement services. The Department has worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Local Government Association, the care sector and other partners to produce a wide range of guidance and support about market shaping and commissioning and contingency planning. All guidance related to market shaping and commissioning responsibilities is collected on a markets Hub available on GOV.UK.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding from the public purse was allocated to biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis in 2013-2014.

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding from the public purse was allocated to biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis in 2012-2013.

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding from the public purse was allocated to biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis in 2011-2012.

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding from the public purse was allocated to biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis in 2010-2011.

Caroline Dinenage: In the period in question, the major National Institute for Health Research funding for biomedical research was through its Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) and Units. These support research funded by the NIHR itself and also research funded by other public, charity and industry research funders. Prior to the financial year 2104-15, the way data was collected does not allow us to directly report the level of funding for biomedical research into chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). Three BRCs were supporting biomedical research into CFS/ME during this time period. The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) provides the infrastructure that allows high-quality clinical research funded by charities, research funders and life-sciences industry to be delivered throughout the National Health Service. The level of funding for biomedical research into CFS/ME for each financial year supported by the CRN can be found in the following table. The funding for this research came from a combination of the Medical Research Council (MRC) and medical research charities. Expenditure from the CRN itself is also outlined below: Financial YearResearch funding £CRN expenditure £2010-11002011-1243,4675,2172012-13114,34913,6162013-14171,86021,353 The MRC spend on research directly relating to CFS/ME can be found in the following table. The MRC does not classify research in the area by type and is therefore not able to include a further breakdown by type of project. Research into CFS/ME is a continuing priority for the MRC. Financial Year£2010-1102011-1202012-13504,1942013-14601,509 The NIHR and the MRC welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including biomedical research into CFS/ME. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. The NIHR recognises that CFS/ME is a debilitating condition and is speaking with the United Kingdom CFS/ME Research Collaborative and patient representatives about how best we can support a joined up approach to high quality research into this complex disorder.

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on (a) patient safety and (b) the long term recovery of patients of the recent changes in service provision at the Adult Eating Disorder Service at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Ensuring patient safety in mental health services is a key priority for the Department. NHS England is working closely with South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust’s Eating Disorder service to assess the potential impacts of recent proposed changes in service provision. NHS England will ensure that the proposed changes meet service specifications, adhere to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance and continue to offer an effective, safe and therapeutic environment for patients.

Department of Health and Social Care: Chief Dental Officer

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times (a) he and (b) Ministers of his Department have met with the Chief Dental Officer in each of the last three years.

Steve Brine: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not met the Chief Dental Officer for England since her appointment in April 2015. The Chief Dental Officer provides advice to NHS England, Health Education England and the Department. Where advice directly to Ministers is required from any of the professional Chief Officers it is usual for this to be requested by the Minister with portfolio responsibility for that policy area and this is also the case for dentistry. The Chief Dental Officer has had a number of meetings with Ministers over the last three years. Departmental records suggest that that the Chief Dental Officer has had four formal meetings with individual Ministers over the last three years. She has also supported Ministers at external events and joined wider meetings at which Ministers have been present.

NHS: Dental Services

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of people who contacted NHS England's Customer Contact Centre after being unable to find a dentist accepting NHS patients in 2017.

Steve Brine: NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre handled 12,712 enquiries about National Health Service dental services in 2017. NHS England has advised that it does not hold information on the number of the number of people who contacted the Contact Centre specifically because they were unable to find a dentist accepting NHS patients.

NHS: Dental Services

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have contacted NHS 111 for (a) emergency and (b) non-emergency dental problems in each of the last three years.

Steve Brine: Data is not collected in the format requested. The data held by 111 on dental calls does not break down reasons for calls into those calling for emergency or non-emergency dental problems.

Mental Health: Alcoholic Drinks

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report, Alcohol and Mental Health: Policy and Practice in England, published by the Institute of Alcohol Studies and Centre for Mental Health in April 2018, what plans he has to tackle the gaps in provision of treatment services for those with co-morbid alcohol use and mental health difficulties.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to tackle the co-morbidity of alcohol use and mental health difficulties under the Government's alcohol strategy.

Steve Brine: Local authorities are responsible for assessing the needs of their local population, including people with alcohol problems, and commissioning services to meet these needs. Needs assessment and commissioning to support people who have co-occurring alcohol and mental health problems should be done in partnership with local National Health Service mental health trusts which are responsible for local mental health issues. Public Health England (PHE) works with local authorities, supporting the needs assessment and commissioning process, with data, guidance and other tools. This includes guidance on meeting the needs of people with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, and data about co-occurring conditions. This guidance and data can be found at the following links: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile-group/mental-health/profile/drugsandmentalhealth https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/people-with-co-occurring-conditions-commission-and-provide-services PHE also supports NHS England’s commissioning for quality and innovation scheme aimed at preventing ill health by risky behaviours - alcohol and tobacco. This programme targets improving services for people with mental health needs who present to accident and emergency services. The Government is committed to exploring how to improve coordination of mental health services and drug and alcohol rehabilitation and will use the development of the new alcohol strategy to examine this further.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to publish a second Five Year Forward View for Mental Health.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to delivering the recommendations set out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health and an ambitious programme is underway to transform mental health services by 2020/21. The proposals set out in the Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health, which are supported by over £300 million of additional funding, aim to improve provision of mental health services for all children and young people through improved working across health and education and by increasing access to specialist services. In addition, the Government has commissioned an Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, to look at how it is used and how practice can improve. The review’s final report, with recommendations for change, will be published in autumn 2018. In the longer term, the Government’s commitment to ensure parity of esteem between mental and physical health is enshrined in the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Obesity: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Childhood and Obesity action plan to tackle the link between social deprivation and childhood obesity.

Steve Brine: The policies in our world-leading childhood obesity plan are being implemented with a focus on reducing inequalities. For example, the soft drinks industry levy and reformulation programme are expected to be most effective in helping reduce childhood obesity for those with lower incomes. The plan also delivers school based interventions including revenue from the soft drinks industry levy being invested in programmes to reduce obesity and encourage physical activity and balanced diets for school age children. With the revenue from the soft drinks industry levy we are investing £26 million in breakfast clubs, for the next three years. This money will kick-start or improve breakfast clubs in over 1,770 schools, with a focus on increasing provision for disadvantaged pupils in Opportunity Areas. Our newly announced chapter two of the Childhood Obesity Plan will recognise the higher prevalence of childhood obesity amongst the most deprived children.

Diabetes

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what projection has been made of the proportion of the UK population to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in each of the next 10 years.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who developed type 2 diabetes in the last twelve months.

Steve Brine: Data on the proportion of the United Kingdom population to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the next 10 years are not collected in the format requested. Public Health England produces estimates of total (diagnosed and undiagnosed) diabetes prevalence for people aged 16 years and over in England up to 2035. The prevalence estimates do not distinguish between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The prevalence estimates are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/diabetes-prevalence-estimates-for-local-populations Projections have only been published in five year time intervals from 2020 onwards. The following table presents the estimated prevalence of diabetes in England from 2018 to 2030.YearPrevalence (%)Number20188.64,089,86420198.74,147,10920208.74,204,33420259.14,511,65320309.34,800,491 The National Diabetes Audit (NDA) has not published information on people who developed Type 2 diabetes or other diabetes in the last 12 months. Type 2 or other diabetes includes people with Maturity-onset Diabetes of the Young, other and non-specified diabetes type. The most recent NDA report found 194,640 people that were newly diagnosed with type 2 or other diabetes in 2015. Further information is available here: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/national-diabetes-audit/national-diabetes-audit-report-1-findings-and-recommendations-2016-17

Diabetes

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money the NHS spent on treating (a) type 1 diabetes and (b) type 2 diabetes in each of the last five years.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the NHS of treating (a) type 1 diabetes and (b) type 2 diabetes in each of the next 10 years.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average annual cost to the NHS is of treating a patient with (a) type 1 diabetes and (b) type 2 diabetes.

Steve Brine: This information is not held centrally in the format requested. Diabetes is a disease which is treated in a number of settings and we are unable to supply all of the relevant information about resources dedicated to its treatment. However, we have provided the following information showing costs that can be specifically linked with the treatment and procedures related to diabetes. The following table shows admitted patient care activity and costs relating to diabetes treatments for the last five years. These include diabetes with hypoglycaemic disorders, diabetes with lower limb complications, paediatric diabetes mellitus and amputations for diabetes or arterial diseases. Admitted patient care costs are collected by Healthcare Resource Groups (HRGs) which are standard groupings of clinically similar treatments which use common levels of healthcare resource. YearActivityUnit CostTotal Cost2012-1383,259£1,454£121,023,5382013-1487,928£1,689£148,482,5292014-1590,476£1,664£150,543,3942015-1696,045£1,705£163,781,5292016-17100,438£1,698£170,524,487Source: NHS Improvement Reference Costs The following table shows activity and costs for procedures carried out in an outpatient setting relating to treatment of diabetes in the last five years. These include diabetes with hypoglycaemic disorders and procedures relating to amputations for diabetes or arterial diseases. As with admitted patient care these costs are collected by HRG. YearActivityUnit CostTotal Cost2012-1349£190£9,3322013-148£127£1,0192014-1511£135£1,4852015-1629£114£3,2922016-1727£131£3,525Source: NHS Improvement Reference Costs The following table shows activity and costs for the last five years for diabetic nursing/liaison community contacts. These contacts are part of specialist nursing and are split by adult and child, and face to face and non-face to face contacts. YearActivityUnit CostTotal Cost2012-13954,597£57£54,662,5012013-141,029,199£57£58,775,8992014-151,003,517£57£57,432,6092015-161,050,930£62£65,277,4362016-171,213,243£59£71,943,167Source: NHS Improvement Reference Costs The information provided in these tables is likely to be an underestimate of total spend on diabetes in all relevant settings.

Mental Illness: Children

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of children in England who have mental health issues.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The most recent published survey of the prevalence of the mental health of children and young people was carried out in 2004. The survey was carried out by the Office for National Statistics and can be found at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-great-britain/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-great-britain-2004 A subsequent follow up study of some of the children and young people from that survey was published in 2007 and can be found at the following link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/statisticsonchildhoodandadolescentmentalhealth In 2016 the Department commissioned NHS Digital to undertake a new Children and Young People’s Mental Health Survey. This is expected to be published in autumn 2018.

Department for International Development

Commonwealth: Overseas Aid

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April 2018, what commitments her Department has made to increase aid and investment to (a) Commonwealth countries and (b) for sea defences to Commonwealth island states to counter the risk of rising sea levels posed by global warming.

Harriett Baldwin: The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting agreed vital steps to help end poverty, and increase mutual prosperity, jobs and investment across the Commonwealth. DFID commitments made during the week of CHOGM included: £212 million for the Girls’ Education Challenge fund; support for 2,500 awards under the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan; £7.5 million to tackle human trafficking and child exploitation; £20 million to help eliminate blinding trachoma; £44 million to help Commonwealth countries prepare for the impact of natural disasters; and confirmation, at the Malaria Summit, of £100 million to strengthen health systems. Over 80% of DFID’s programmes in the Caribbean are wholly or partially focused on improving climate and disaster resilience. The £330 million UK Caribbean Infrastructure Fund, announced in 2015, will build, renovate and strengthen ports, sea defences and roads in 8 Commonwealth Caribbean countries and Montserrat, an overseas territory.

Commonwealth: Rain Forests

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much and what proportion of her Department's overseas aid budget allocated to Commonwealth countries is used to protect and enhance rainforests in those countries.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID’s overall funding for forest conservation and management in all developing countries was £75m in FY15-16 and £69m in FY16-17, including bilateral programmes and relevant multilateral contributions. Commonwealth countries that benefit from our bilateral programmes are Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Guyana. DFID’s bilateral forest programmes are focused on encouraging sustainable trade, based on legal and sustainable supplies of timber and agricultural commodities. These programmes work across borders to influence the international trade and capital flows which are driving deforestation in developing countries. These include both Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries, and it is not possible to disaggregate the spending completely.

Yemen: Medical Treatments

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of access for medical supplies to north Yemen.

Alistair Burt: Access for vital supplies of medicine, food, and fuel into northern Yemen is crucial, with 70% of the people in humanitarian need in Houthi-held areas in the north of the country. Since the start of 2018, more than 2,000 metric tonnes of medical supplies have been delivered by dedicated vessels through the port of Hodeidah. Medical supplies are also imported into Red Sea ports on commercial vessels predominantly carrying food or fuel. In the last three months imports through Red Sea ports have increased. Further medical supplies also enter northern Yemen through UN flights into Sana’a airport. So far this year, these flights have been reliable and only one has not taken off as planned. UN agencies additionally import medical supplies through the southern port of Aden; we do not have an exact figure at this time, but they form only a clear minority of the total imports of medical supplies. The UK has provided £1.3 million to support the UN’s Verification and Inspection Mechanism and speed up the process of clearing commercial vessels entering Yemen. We have also provided over £2 million to the UN to support its air services into Sana’a.

Yemen: Cholera

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the risk of cholera in north Yemen.

Alistair Burt: The risk of cholera in the north of Yemen is deeply concerning. In 2017, Yemen experienced the worst cholera outbreak ever recorded in a single year, with more than one million reported cases. This year, nearly 90% of the Yemeni districts prioritised by the UN for its cholera response are in Houthi-held areas in the north of Yemen. The risk in northern Yemen is exacerbated by obstructions to commercial and humanitarian access. The Houthis are yet to provide permission for a cholera vaccination campaign in the north of Yemen, and have obstructed humanitarian staff. Whilst critical commercial imports of food and fuel into northern Yemen are increasing, there are still not enough basic supplies entering the country. The UK’s aid of £170 million to Yemen this financial year (2018/19) will tackle the underlying causes of cholera with support for nutrition, clean water and sanitation, and meet the immediate food needs for 2.5 million Yemenis. The UK also supported the first-ever phase of a cholera vaccination campaign in the south of Yemen, which was completed earlier this month and targeted more than 450,000 with the oral cholera vaccine.

Yemen: Cholera

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the number of cholera vaccinations which will be available in north Yemen this year.

Alistair Burt: In May 2018, the first phase of the first-ever cholera vaccination campaign was completed in the south of Yemen. More than 450,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine were supplied to protect vulnerable Yemenis from cholera. The UK paid for 25% of these doses. A further 860,000 doses of the vaccine have been made available to Houthi-held areas in the north of Yemen. However, the Houthis are yet to provide permission for this campaign to go ahead. Overall, 4.5 million doses of the vaccine have been approved by the Global Task Force on Cholera Control for the whole of Yemen. These will be delivered throughout 2018, access allowing. The exact allocation of these doses between north and south Yemen is still under analysis, but nearly 90% of Yemeni districts prioritised by the UN for its cholera response are in Houthi-held areas in the north of Yemen.

Sudan: International Assistance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding will her Department plans to provide to UN agencies working in Sudan in 2018-19.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department plans to allocate to UN agencies working in Sudan in the current financial year.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID has planned to provide £32 million of direct funding to United Nations (UN) partners working in Sudan for the 2018/19 financial year. In 2018/19 our contributions to UN partners will help provide at least 550,000 people in Sudan with humanitarian assistance; support to prevent or treat malnutrition; and sustainable access to water.

Palestinians: Syria

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation of Palestinian refugees in Yarmouk camp in southern Damascus; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Yarmouk camp has been effectively besieged for several years. Despite the regime takeover in recent days, humanitarian access to Yarmouk continues to be denied. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, supported by DFID, has had no direct access to the camp since April 2015. We continue to call on all parties to protect civilians, and to allow humanitarian agencies unfettered access to provide aid to those most in need, including at the UN Security Council and the International Syria Support Group. The Secretary of State for International Development and I focused on these messages at the ‘Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region’ Conference in Brussels on 24 and 25 April.

Palestinians: Syria

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to ensure protection and relief to Palestinian refugees affected by the conflict in Syria; and whether her Department has any plans to increase the UK's contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

Alistair Burt: We continue to call on all parties to protect civilians in Syria, including Palestinian refugees, and to allow humanitarian agencies unfettered access to provide aid to those most in need, including at the UN Security Council and the International Syria Support Group. The Secretary of State for International Development and I focused on these messages at the 'Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region Conference' held in Brussels on 24 and 25 April. DFID supports UNRWA’s Syria Emergency Appeal which provides 418,000 Palestinian Refugees in Syria (PRS) with cash and in-kind food assistance. This includes providing 254,000 internally displaced PRS with blankets, mattresses and hygiene kits in addition to livelihood, education and protection assistance. UK officials and the Minister for the Middle East work closely with UNRWA, PRS host governments, and partners to maintain the continuity of essential services to Palestinian refugees. The UK will deliver its next round of financial support for UNRWA’s core budget earlier than originally planned, to help meet the growing needs of Palestinian refugees across the region. Officials continue to monitor UNRWA’s evolving financial situation closely.

Somaliland: Storms

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the people and Government of Somaliland in the aftermath of Cyclone Sagar.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is one of the largest humanitarian donors in Somalia. DFID funded partners have pre-positioned relief supplies in Somaliland for use in the aftermath of Cyclone Sagar. These include water treatment kits, tents, health and nutrition supplies that can cater for more than 400,000 people. Airlifts of supplies to flood-affected areas are also underway, funded in part by UKAid. Our partners are undertaking needs assessments to determine the full extent of destruction caused.

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the stigma of, and discrimination towards people with, HIV Aids globally.

Alistair Burt: The UK government’s HIV response prioritises those still left behind by the huge progress made in recent years, including adolescents, women and girls and under-served groups such as men who have sex with men, injecting drug users, sex workers and prisoners living with and affected by HIV. Through the Robert Carr Civil Society Networks Fund we are supporting civil society networks of people affected by HIV to demand their rights, address stigma and discrimination and hold governments to account. The UK has committed £9 million to this Fund, since its start, to help champion their rights to access prevention and treatment services.

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to help ensure regional and global civil society networks have sufficient funds to respond to the HIV epidemic.

Alistair Burt: The UK government understands the vital role that regional and global civil society networks play in the AIDS response, in particular in supporting the rights and addressing the needs of inadequately served groups affected by HIV. That is why the UK government played a leadership role with other founding donors in setting up the Robert Carr Civil Society Networks Fund. So far the UK has committed £9 million to this Fund. We will make our decision on future investments to the Fund later this year.

Department for Education

King's College London: Demonstrations

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government has made an assessment as to whether the measures taken by King's College London as a result of violent disruption of meetings on its campus meet its statutory requirements.

Mr Sam Gyimah: It is the responsibility of each individual institution to ensure that it is meeting statutory requirements and following its own codes of practice.

Students: Loans

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average length of time has been for monthly salary deductions collected by HMRC to be reconciled with individual accounts held by the Student Loans Company in each of the last three years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Students: Loans

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much debt interest accrued on student loans for which salary deductions have already been made by HMRC in each of the last three years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Students: Loans

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the value is of student loan debt assets sold to the private sector since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The value of student loan debt assets sold to the private sector since 2010 was £0.16 billion as of November 2013 and £1.7 billion as of December 2017.

Students: Loans

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether debt interest is paid on portions of student loans for which salary deductions have already been made by HMRC.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

University of Chester Academies Trust

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he first received information on the financial difficulties experienced by the University of Chester Academies Trust.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department first received information on the financial difficulties experienced by the University of Chester Academies Trust in July 2016. The budget forecast report showed a financial deficit for the year ahead resulting in a cumulative deficit at 31 August 2017. The Education and Skills Funding Agency commenced intervention, however the financial position continued to deteriorate, and as a result a Financial Notice to Improve warning letter was issued in February 2017.

University Church of England Academy Ellesmere Port

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, What steps his Department is taking to improve performance of University Church of England Academy.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department has continued to work closely with the University of Chester Academies Trust to support improvements at University of Chester CE Academy (UCEA). The Cheshire Vale Teaching School Alliance (CVTSA) and their secondary school, Tarporley High School (rated Outstanding by Ofsted), are providing additional support which has been funded through an emergency Strategic School Improvement Funding grant.Specialist leaders of education from CVTSA are working with middle and senior leaders in the school, supporting them to improve their knowledge, skills and confidence in order to improve standards. The recent Ofsted monitoring inspection in March 2018 was positive about the impact of this additional support:“The scope and intensity of the school’s work with staff from CVTSA has increased dramatically over the course of this term. In January 2018, the acting principal and vice-principal were made permanent in their roles. Senior leaders feel that they now have the freedom, authority and support to increase the intensity of their efforts to improve the school.”The report recognises that it is too early to assess the full impact of the additional support. In order to release capacity in the trust and to enable it to support UCEA better, the West Midlands Regional Schools Commissioner has agreed with the trust to initially rebroker four schools (University Primary Academy Weaverham, University Primary Academy Kidsgrove, University Academy Kidsgrove and University of Chester Academy Northwich).

Academies

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academy schools have been removed from their sponsors and placed (a) in new trusts and (b) into local authority control in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.

Nadhim Zahawi: Where a trust has failed to improve a school that was underperforming, Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) have intervened, and that may have led to the academy being transferred to a new trust. An academy may also apply to change trust arrangements voluntarily. For example, a single academy may want to join a multi-academy trust (MAT) because it wants to benefit from the greater capacity this can provide. Information on academies that have moved trusts between 2013/14 to 2016/17 was published in September 2017 and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-transfers-and-grant-funding. This publication provides information on the funding associated with the transfer of academies to different trusts, whether this was initiated voluntarily by the academy or trust, or whether an RSC made a decision that this would be in the best interests of pupils at the academy. Data on academy transfers before 2013/14 is not available. No academies have been placed back into local authority control. The publication will be updated annually to show academies that have moved trust for the following financial year; the data for 2017-2018 financial will be released in July 2018.Table 1. Number of academies that have moved trust by financial year (Source: Academy trust transfers and grant funding) Financial YearNumber of academies that moved trusts2013-14152014-15612015-16912016-17165Grand Total332

Academies

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which academy chains are banned from sponsoring any more schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: An academy sponsor is an organisation or person who has received approval from the department to support an underperforming academy or group of academies. A range of bodies and institutions, including multi-academy trusts, can apply to become academy sponsors. An academy sponsor is paused if any or all of the following conditions exist:significant concerns with educational impact;serious financial concerns, for example where the Education and Skills Funding Agency has issued a financial notice to improve due to financial non-compliance, breaches of funding agreements; and/orserious concerns about the leadership or governance of the sponsor, which may include due diligence and counter extremism issues. Academy sponsors remain on pause unless and until the concerns that led to them being paused have been resolved. Just because a sponsor is not on pause does not mean it is automatically allowed to take on more schools. A rigorous process is followed for all sponsorship decisions.The following list shows all academy sponsors that are paused as of 22 May 2018:Bright Futures Educational Trust;Grace Foundation;CfBT Schools Trust;City of Wolverhampton Academy Trust;Future Schools Trust;The Education Fellowship Trust;University of Chester Academies Trust;Wakefield City Academies Trust;The Silver Birch Academy;Plymouth CAST;TBAP Trust;Zail Enterprises Ltd;Bradfield School; andChrysalis Multi-Academy Trust.

University Church of England Academy Ellesmere Port

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to remove University Church of England Academy from its current sponsors.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Education and Adoption Act 2016 gives Regional Schools Commissioners, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, the power to terminate the funding agreement of any academy judged Inadequate by Ofsted. This is a power rather than a duty, and there is no requirement to rebroker an inadequate academy. We will continue to monitor the overall effectiveness of the academy and the rate of improvement and will consider, as we do with all Ofsted-rated inadequate academies, whether rebrokerage is the right approach in order to improve standards.If rebrokerage of an inadequate academy is the most appropriate course of action, we will identify a strong multi-academy trust with the relevant experience and capacity and work with it to enable as swift a transition to the new trust as possible. Until any rebrokerage or transfer takes place, University of Chester CE Academy UCEA remains the responsibility of the existing trust (UCAT). The department has continued to work closely with UCAT to support improvements at UCEA. The Cheshire Vale Teaching School Alliance and their secondary school, Tarporley High School (rated Outstanding by Ofsted), are providing additional support which has been funded through an emergency Strategic School Improvement Funding grant.A decision has already been made to rebroker four of the other academies in the trust which will help focus efforts to improve standards at UCEA. These four schools are University Primary Academy Weaverham, University Primary Academy Kidsgrove, University Academy Kidsgrove and University of Chester Academy Northwich.

Pre-school Education: Teachers

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2018 to Question 144965 on Pre-school Education: Teachers, if he will publish the names of the (a) unions and (b) bodies referred to.

Nadhim Zahawi: The names of the (a) unions and (b) bodies the department consults with in respect of regulations made under section 122 of the Education Act 2002 are:Unions:Association of School and College LeadersAssociation of Teachers and LecturersNational Association of Head TeachersNational Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women TeachersNational Union of TeachersUCAC (Welsh teaching union)Voice, the unionBodies:Amanda Spielman, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector (HMCI)National Employers Organisation for School TeachersNational Governors AssociationWelsh GovernmentBritish Association of Teachers of the Deaf

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on offering incentives to Early Years settings to provide 30 hours of free childcare places.

Nadhim Zahawi: In April 2017, the department published operational guidance for local authorities and childcare providers, which highlights various case studies and different models of partnership working and their key features to help providers deliver the 30 hour’ entitlement. The guidance also provides online links to two toolkits specifically produced for providers to support partnership working across early years. The operational guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/30-hours-free-childcare-la-and-early-years-provider-guide. The government continues to encourage providers to take advantage of the free packages of business support the department has invested in via Childcare Works and key sector organisations including National Day Nurseries Asssociation, Pre-School Learning Alliance and Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years. Guidance’s on these are available by accessing the following links: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-business-sustainability and www.childcareworks.co.uk.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Young People

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of 13-25 year olds in prison in (a) 1997, (b) 2007, (c) 2010 and (d) 2017.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Youth Custody Service (YCS) and Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are committed to reducing the number of young people and adults who enter custody. Below is an estimate of the number of 13 to 25 year olds that were held in custody in the years 2007, 2010 and 2017. Neither the Youth Justice Board (YJB) nor the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) hold data broken down by this age group for the year 1997. YearYouth Secure EstateAdult Secure Estate Total20072,90524,63827,54320102,08926,19828, 287201790018,05518,955 Notes relating to Youth Secure Estate Data:Data from April 2017 onwards is provisional. The 2017/18 figures will be finalised in the 2017/18 Youth Justice Statistics in January 2019. For the purposes of this PQ, data on any 10 to 12 year olds in the youth secure estate are not included.Data for YOIs includes 15 to 17 year olds only.For the 2017 calendar year, these figures include 18 year olds who remained in Secure Children’s Home (SCH) and Secure Training Centre (STC) sectors. Data on 18 year olds held in SCHs and STCs was not available for the years 1997, 2007 and 2010.Note these figures are averages of 12 monthly snapshots of the custodial population in the youth secure estate for children and young people, taken on the last Friday of the month or first Friday of the following month, depending on which is nearer to the actual month end.The information prior to April 2012 comes from the YJB's Secure Accommodation Clearing House System (SACHS) database. The information from April 2012 to August 2017 comes from the eAsset database. The information for September 2017 onwards comes from the Youth Justice Application Framework (YJAF) database. Notes relating to Adult Secure Estate Data:This data relates to:- 18 to 25 year olds held in adult prisons;- 18 year olds held in the Youth Secure Estate;- 15 to 17 year olds who have been moved to the Adult Secure Estate before their 18th birthday due to behavioural issues within the Youth Secure Estate Notes relating to both Youth and Adult Secure EstatesThese figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.

Small Claims: Electronic Government

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2018 to Question 136859 on Small Claims: Electronic Government, where his Department has established a telephone helpline for claimants to contact to discuss those cases.

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2018 to Question 136859, on Small Claims: Electronic Government, what steps he is taking to publicise the launch of the new online money claims service.

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2018 to Question 136859 on Small Claims: Electronic Government, whether existing money claims online users will have access the new online money claims service.

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the telephone service accompanying the money claims online system; and whether that service is fully operational.

Lucy Frazer: A telephone helpline has been established for claimants and defendants who require assistance with the money claims process. This helpline is supported by Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) staff based in the County Court Business Centre in Northampton. A press release advertising the launch of this new service on Gov.uk was published on the 6 April, and sent to key media outlets. In addition, Susan Acland-Hood, HMCTS Chief Executive Officer, wrote to key stakeholders, and I wrote to the Chair of the Justice Select Committee to inform the Committee of the new service. The new Online Money Claims Service allows Litigants in Person to issue, respond and settle claims for under £10,000 online. Existing Money Claims Online users can also use the new service to issue new claims. 90% of users of the new system are satisfied or highly satisfied. The telephone service has been fully operational since 26 March 2018. Service performance and call volumes are constantly monitored to ensure resources are allocated to match demand.

Debt Collection: Enforcement

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when HM Courts and Tribunals Service plans to announce the results of the tender process on the provision of enforcement services for debt collecting companies.

Lucy Frazer: The preferred option and business case is progressing through the final governance stages. Inevitably a contract of this complexity requires a robust procurement and approvals process, as it is important to make sure that the best possible solution is chosen for HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Department for International Trade

Treaties: Investment

Robert Courts: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many international investment agreements to which the UK is a signatory include protections against expropriations without compensation.

Greg Hands: The UK is a signatory to over 90 bilateral investment treaties (BITs). The UK is also a party to the plurilateral Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), which has 53 other parties including the EU. The ECT and all of the UK’s BITs currently in force include protections against expropriation without compensation.

Peking University: Oxfordshire

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department has (a) held discussions with and (b) received representations from (i) Peking University HSBC Business School or (ii) authorities in China on proposals to open a campus at Foxcombe Hall in Oxfordshire.

Graham Stuart: The Department for International Trade has not held discussions with or received representations from Peking University HSBC Business School or authorities in China on proposals to open a campus at Foxcombe Hall in Oxfordshire.

Iron and Steel: USA

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what representations he is making to (a) the EU and (b) his counterparts in EU member states on the UK's preferred options for when the exemption from US steel tariffs ends on 1 June 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Overseas Trade: Southern African Development Community

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Trade Policy of 17 May 2018, Official Report, column 410, if he will publish the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and the Southern African Development Community EPA Group.

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Trade Policy of 17 May 2018, Official Report, column 410, if he will publish the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and the CARIFORUM states.

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to his oral contribution by the Minister for Trade Policy of 17 May 2018, Official Report, column 410, if he will publish the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and the Eastern and Southern Africa EPA Group.

Greg Hands: I have agreed a number of joint statements with partner countries setting out our mutual ambition to ensure continuity of trading relations as the UK leaves the EU, and have already published these as they have been agreed. In July 2017, my noble Friend, the then Minister of State for Trade Policy (Lord Price) agreed such a statement of intent with ministers from the Southern African Customs Union. In November 2017, I agreed a similar statement with the CARIFORUM trade ministers and representatives, and also with the East and Southern Africa States in April 2018.More information can be found in the following links: http://www.sacu.int/docs/pr/2017/pr0719.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-on-trade-between-uk-and-the-cariforum-stateshttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-on-trade-between-uk-and-the-esa-states

Trade Agreements

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will publish any documents pertaining to agreements reached by the Trade and Investment Working Groups.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign Investment in UK

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the trends of UK inward and outward direct foreign investment between 2016 and 2017.

Graham Stuart: 2016/17 was a record year for FDI projects coming into the UK. There was also an increase in inward FDI stock from 2016 to 2017 (OECD, FDI in Figures 2018). Both of these indicators demonstrate the attractiveness and stability of the investment environment in the UK. UK outward FDI was £37 billion in 2016 (ONS), it is estimated that this has increased to £78 billion in 2017 (UNCTAD provisional estimate).

Foreign Investment in UK: Statistics

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the OECD Foreign Direct Investment Statistics which were published on 27 April 2018.

Graham Stuart: A recent OECD report estimated that the UK’s inward FDI stock increased by 6% from 2016 to 2017. Coupled with record levels of FDI projects into the UK in 2016/17, this demonstrates the attractiveness and stability of the UK investment environment. UK greenfield investment was stable between 2016 (£29.5 billion) and 2017 (£28.9 billion), despite inward FDI flows (including mergers and acquisitions activity) reducing by 90% between 2016 and 2017.The Government continues to focus on maintaining an attractive investment environment through which we can maximise the benefits of foreign investment to the UK economy.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Insulation: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will ban the use of aluminium composite material cladding with fire retardant polyethylene filler.

James Brokenshire: We will ensure there is no room for doubt over what materials can be used safely in cladding systems on high rise residential buildings. Having listened carefully to the arguments for banning combustible materials in cladding systems on high rise residential buildings, the Government is minded to agree and will consult accordingly as early as is practicable.The Government will fully fund the removal and replacement of potentially dangerous Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding on buildings over 18 metres owned by social landlords, with costs estimated at £400 million.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government,  when his Department plans to (a) start and (b) conclude the proposed consultation on banning the use of combustible materials in cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings; and when he expects the recommendations from the consultation to be enacted.

James Brokenshire: There is a statutory requirement in the Building Act to consult on substantive changes to the building regulations. We will publish a consultation on banning the use of combustible materials in cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings as early as practicable and give consultees adequate time to respond to the consultation before deciding how to proceed.

Insulation: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 17 May 2018, Official Report, column 465, whether it is his policy that developers should cover fire safety and cladding costs where unsafe cladding is found.

James Brokenshire: In the private sector, building owners are responsible for making buildings safe. We have been clear that they or the developers of the buildings should pay and not pass costs on to leaseholders, either funding the work themselves or looking at alternative routes such as insurance claims, warranties or action to ensure those responsible for erecting unsafe cladding pay.

Social Rented Housing: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will set out the assumptions on which he based the estimated cost of the removal and replacement of unsafe cladding by councils and housing associations.

James Brokenshire: The estimated cost of removing and replacing dangerous Aluminium Composite Material cladding on high-rise residential buildings owned by social landlords is £400 million. The estimate draws on information provided by building owners regarding their anticipated costs.

Housing: North East

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much of the Homes England Home Building Fund has been spent in the North East since October 2016.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Construction

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average Homes England Home Building Fund loan amount has been since October 2016.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Construction

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average length of time has been to process loans provided by the Homes England Home Building Fund since October 2016.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Gazumping

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the findings of his Department's consultation on improving the home buying and selling process, when his Department plans to take steps to prevent incidents of gazumping in the process of house sales.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what active weapon systems arm each vessel within the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Guto Bebb: Determined by their tasking, Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ships are armed with active weapon systems (AWS) for self-protection. Each ship is fit to receive Phalanx and 20mm or 30mm close range guns; with the exception of RFA TIDESPRING which is yet to be fitted for AWS. All RFA ships may also carry small arms.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what weapon systems are planned to arm each of the planned Royal Fleet Auxiliary solid support ships.

Guto Bebb: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 April 2018 to Question 137603 to the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Mr Stephens).



Royal Fleet Auxiliary
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Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the reasons are for his Department's decision to purchase F-35A aircraft for the Royal Air Force.

Guto Bebb: No F-35A variants have been purchased.

Rosyth Dockyard: Nuclear Submarines

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a role is planned for the Goliath crane at Rosyth for the recycling of decommissioned nuclear ballistic missile submarines laid up in Rosyth dockyard; and if he will make a statement.

Guto Bebb: It is too early in the decision making process to assess the feasibility of the use of the Goliath crane in the Submarine Dismantling Project.

Trident Submarines

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the report Submarine Delivery Agency Corporate Plan 2018-2019, published in April 2018, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for the Dreadnought programme of the lessons learned process.

Guto Bebb: The Submarine Delivery Agency's performance will be monitored and assessed to check that it is embedding a culture that achieves continuous improvement in safety and security through a robust and consistent application of processes and development of lessons learned. This will be applied throughout the organisation, including the Dreadnought programme.

Armed Forces Covenant

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many businesses have signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant since its commencement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: As at 22 May 2018 a total of 2,541 organisations have signed the Armed Forces Covenant. Details of all Armed Forces Covenant signatories and their pledges are available on the gov.uk website at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/armed-forces-covenant.

Weeton Barracks

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress is being made on plans to redevelop Weeton Barracks into HQ North West by 2022 as part of the 2016 Strategic Defence Estate Review; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timetable is for works to commence at Weeton Barracks as part of its transformation into HQ North West.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The timetable for works at Weeton Barracks will be determined following completion of the assessment study in line with the reprovision for the units by 2022 as per the ‘A Better Defence Estate’ announcement of November 2016. The Defence Estate Optimisation Programme is on track with assessing the best options for the relocation of HQ North West in Weeton Barracks for 2022.

Armed Forces: Cadets

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make funds available to enable cadet adult instructors to attend Stonewall train-the-trainers courses to enable detachment commanders to identify a need to find assistance for cadets identifying to them as being LGBT.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) sponsored Cadet Forces are inclusive organisations which help young people achieve their potential by offering a range of challenging and exciting activities based on the values and ethos of the Armed Forces.We are committed to equality of opportunity for young people and adults alike, recognising diversity within our membership and regarding it as one of our greatest strengths. As an example of our commitment, specific Gender Identity guidance has been produced for all MOD Cadet Forces which is also signposted during safeguarding training for Cadet Force adult volunteers.The MOD has no current plans to fund Stonewall train-the-trainers courses for Cadet Force adult volunteers.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to her Answer of 28 March 2018 to Question 133504 on Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations, if she will list the key service levels her Department has agreed with the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments.

Kit Malthouse: The key service levels agreed Centre for Health and Disability Assessments for the delivery of Health and Disability assessment Services are as follows: Service Levels which do not attract financial redress:Number of complaints against Health Care Practitioners (HCP) made by Claimants after a consultation.Claimant Additional Requirements (same sex HCP, interpreter and call recording)Payment of travelling expenses to Claimants to be paid into a bank accountPrevious Did Not Attend Cases – Supplier must provide priority booking where the Claimant had good cause for not attending.Claimant satisfaction rate in independently commissioned survey relating to the quality of service provided and Claimant experience.Speed of Work Capability Assessment (WCA) Face to Face assessment clearance for initial referrals (Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit (UC)). Complemented by an age of outstanding service level for the same referral types.Cancellation of Face to Face Appointments: Claimant appointments cancelled by the Supplier Service Levels which attract financial redress: Quality Service - Levels:o Quality of assessments derived from the audit of all assessment reports deemed as acceptable without significant learning points (% grades A and B)o Quality of assessments derived from the audit of all assessment reports deemed as acceptable without significant learning points (% grade A)o % of reports in each month which are compliant and don’t require Re-work Volume - Service Levels:o Completed Work Capability Assessment (WCA) by Face to Face consultation onlyo Completed Work Capability Assessment (WCA) by Paper-Based Review or Face to Face consultation by region (a floor target)o Terminally Ill (TI) cases end to end assessment process – clearance time targeto Advice including Disability Living Allowance/Attendance Allowance Terminally Ill (DLA/AA TI) – a clearance time targeto Speed of Clearance Target for non-WCA Benefitso Old cases - referrals that have not been cleared within the Clearance Targeto Re-work of assessment reports deemed not fit for purpose. Original Assessment -Paper Based Review or Consultations (all benefits)o Rework of assessment reports deemed not fit for purpose – Original Assessment – Disability Living Allowance /Attendance Allowance (DLA/AA) Advice Customer Service - Service Levels:o Claimant call waiting timeo Face to Face Consultation waiting time - *excluding claimants sent home unseeno Claimants sent home unseen where the cause is a Supplier act or omission

Social Security Benefits: Mental Illness

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance and training is provided to staff determining sanctions for (a) jobseekers allowance and (b) universal credit to help them understand mental health problems which may legitimately account for claimants missing appointments with little or no notice.

Alok Sharma: DWP provides learning and guidance for staff administering Jobseeker’s Allowance to determine if a referral to a Decision Maker is appropriate when determining a sanction. Foundation learning is provided and undertaken to build capability and to recognise when a claimant is vulnerable, has a known mental health condition or other complex needs exists. Decision makers and work coaches are also supported by material which covers identifying circumstances when a claimant can be treated as having good reason for failure to attend. Universal Credit staff receive further learning about complex needs and supporting a claimant, such as guidance for decision makers to prompt them to take all of a claimant’s circumstances into account, including known mental health problems, when assessing whether a sanction is appropriate. Staff are supported to consider ‘good reason’ for failing to attend an appointment and determine if a mental health problem contributed to the missed appointment. The learning and guidance for jobcentre staff explains that when referring cases they must record whether the claimant has complex needs so the decision maker can consider that as part of the decision making process.

Access to Work Programme: Wheelchairs

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what date was the requirement for disabled people to contribute towards the cost of their wheelchairs as part of the access to work scheme introduced; how many disabled people have had to contribute towards the cost of their wheelchair since the introduction of that policy; and whether an equality impact assessment was undertaken before the introduction of that policy.

Sarah Newton: Access to Work grants are provided solely on the basis of addressing extra disability related costs of working, beyond those which employers have a statutory duty to meet as ‘reasonable adjustments’ under the Equality Act 2010. Access to Work launched in 1994. It is a longstanding practice of the scheme that where there is a ‘social and domestic’ benefit from a piece of equipment funded by the scheme, there must be a proportionate contribution from the individual. The purpose of this is two-fold: to ensure equity between working disabled people and non-working disabled people who would not have Access to Work funded equipment that they could also use outside of work and to keep the scheme within its legislative vires. Data regarding the number of customers who have had a ‘Social and Domestic’ contribution applied to an award covering a wheelchair are not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The Access to Work guidance is subject to constant review. When DWP officials became aware that, in some instances, the ‘Social and Domestic’ contribution had not being applied to awards, a guidance update was issued to clarify the importance of the ‘Social and Domestic’ contribution and ensure that staff would apply it where appropriate. As this is a neither a new policy, nor a significant alteration to an existing policy, a separate equality analysis was not deemed necessary.

Universal Credit

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Oral Statement of 23 November 2017 on universal credit, Official Report, column 1200, what steps her Department has taken to ensure (a)  that all new claimants in need are able to access an advance payment and (b) greater collaboration between Citizens Advice and her Department.

Alok Sharma: Additional work has been done by the Department to further raise awareness of the availability of advances nationally, including a communications campaign in jobcentres and guidance to staff to support them to ensure that all claimants are aware of advances at the outset, how much they can claim and what the maximum repayment period is. Information about advances is also available on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-advances. We are currently working with Citizens Advice to determine how best we can support Universal Credit claimants together. These discussions are on-going.

Unemployment

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the amount of funding her Department has allocated to support workless households in each of the last five years.

Kit Malthouse: We do not hold expenditure data on the basis of workless households. However, in 2016/17 DWP spent £575m on Employment Programmes.

Detergents: Labelling

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to ensure that information on hazardous materials are displayed on the labels of domestic cleaning products imported and sold online by traders selling at distance.

Sarah Newton: The direct acting European Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 on the Classification, Labelling and Packaging of substances and mixtures – the CLP Regulation - and Regulation (EC) No. 648/2004 on detergents - the Detergents Regulation – both require information on hazards and safe use to be displayed on the labels of domestic cleaning products that are imported into the UK. The CLP Regulation also requires that where consumers can purchase a substance or mixture placed on the EU market without seeing the label first, such as online, then the advertisement for it must mention the types of hazard indicated on the label. On online sales, the Health and Safety Executive works closely with Local Authority Trading Standards Officers, other national enforcing authorities and with online platforms to remove online products from sale in the UK/EU that do not comply with legal requirements. Enforcement of labelling requirements under the Detergents Regulations falls to Trading Standards Services within Local Authorities. Trading Standards Officers also enforce the CLP Regulation in relation to retail consumer products such as domestic cleaning products that are sold to the public.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints from women affected by the changes in the state pension age have been investigated and closed by the Independent Case Examiners Office in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland.

Kit Malthouse: As at 22 May 2018, the Independent Case Examiner’s Office had concluded 86 investigations into complaints from women affected by the changes in state pension age, 86 lived in the UK (including Scotland); and 13 lived in Scotland.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints from women affected by the changes in the state pension age made to the Independent Case Examiners Office are outstanding in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland.

Kit Malthouse: As at 22 May 2018 the Independent Case Examiner’s Office had 2,878 live complaints from women affected by changes in state pension age, at various stages of its process. It is not possible to break this down between Scotland and the remainder of the UK without incurring disproportionate cost.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2018 to Question 141380, of the 13 complaints made by women in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency on changes to the state pension age, (a) what the date was of each complaint made, (b) how many complaints have been accepted for examination and (c) what the timetable is for each of those accepted complaints to be examined.

Kit Malthouse: Of the 13 complaints referred to in the answer to Question 141380 from women in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency concerning changes to state pension age: a) The dates on which the complaints were received by the ICE Office are detailed below: 30/03/201711/07/201728/07/201725/08/201704/09/201705/09/201708/12/2017 (2 complaints received that day)07/02/201814/02/201813/03/201820/03/201804/04/2018b) Of those 13 cases, 7 have been accepted for investigation. c) Complaints are investigated by dedicated teams and are usually brought into investigation in strict date order, based on the date they were accepted for examination. The Independent Case Examiners office is currently allocating complaints about changes to state pension age that were accepted for examination April 2017. It is not possible to provide a timetable for examining those cases that are currently awaiting investigation.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women in Scotland who have been affected by the changes in state pension age have lodged a complaint with the Independent Case Examiner’s office; how many of those complaints have been accepted for examination; and how many accepted complaints have been reviewed by the Independent Case Examiner’s office.

Kit Malthouse: It is not possible to determine what proportion of all the complaints received by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office originate from women in Scotland; or how many of those complaints have been accepted for examination without incurring disproportionate cost. Of the 86 investigations that have been concluded into this group of complaints, 13 were from women in Scotland.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of women affected by changes in the state pension age have made an official complaint to the Independent Case Examiner's Office.

Kit Malthouse: We have interpreted this as a question about the number of women who have made a complaint as part of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign. All women born after 6th April 1950 have been affected by the changes in State Pension age. There are estimated to be 3.58 million women affected by the State Pension age changes born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1960 in Great Britain. 3,521 WASPI complaints have been received by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office, therefore around 0.1% of women in the above birth cohort have made an official complaint to the Independent Case Examiner's Office.

Support for Mortgage Interest

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2018 to Question 133903, what assessment her Department has made of the financial effect of the loss of equity caused by repaying the loan that has now replaced Support for Mortgage Interest at the point of sale of the home.

Kit Malthouse: The average amount of SMI loan repayable upon the sale of the home is estimated at around £1,200 after a year, increasing to around £4,000 after 5 years. DWP has produced tables that provide examples of how SMI loans might accrue over time and these are included in the Frequently Asked Questions that are issued to claimants after they have had the information call with Serco. In many cases the recovery of SMI loans will impact the beneficiaries of the recipients of SMI loans. Without the provision of the SMI loan it is possible that the property would have been repossessed by the mortgage lender.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2018 to Question 143651 on State Retirement Pensions: Females, how much additional resource has been provided to the Independent Case Examiners Office for 2018/2019; what effect this additional resource is expected to have on waiting times for complaints to be completed; and what proportion of those who responded to the ICE customer survey whose complaint related to WASPI said that they were satisfied with the service they received.

Kit Malthouse: The Independent Case Examiner’s Office will receive funding for thirteen additional staff during the 2018/19 financial year. Decisions as to how those resources are deployed rest with the Independent Case Examiner’s Office. Given the range and compexity of the complaints examined by the Office and the demand led nature of the service it provides, it is not possible to provide reliable predictions on how this will impact on overall waiting times. Responses to the ICE Customer Satisfaction survey are anonymised and as such its is not possible to determine what proportion of WASPI complainants were satisfied with the service provided by the ICE Office.

Jobcentres: Oldham

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many FTE employees were based in Oldham Job Centre in each year since 2010.

Alok Sharma: The requested information for the numbers of FTE (full time equivalent) employees based in Oldham Job Centre since 2010 is: November 2010 – 168.35 FTEApril 2011 – 153.01 FTEApril 2012 – 128.08 FTEApril 2013 – 134.57 FTEApril 2014 – 136.29 FTEApril 2015 – 128.93 FTEApril 2016 – 79.99 FTE*April 2017 – 73.77 FTE* 2018 (as of May) – 120.76 FTE * The lower FTE figures at April 2016 and April 2017 reflect natural attrition (resignations, promotions and transfers), a Voluntary Early Severance package (part of a national DWP scheme), and the continuing improvement in employment figures. From April 2017 onwards additional staff were recruited due to the roll-out of Universal Credit in Oldham, in July 2017. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal point due to DWP’s FTE calculation process.

Personal Independence Payment

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has set a time limit for notifying claimants from the date of decision whether their (a) application and (b) mandatory reconsideration for Personal Independence Payment has been unsuccessful; and if she will take steps to ensure that unsuccessful claimants receive their decision in a timely manner.

Sarah Newton: The law does not set a time limit for notifying decisions, be they in relation to claims or applications for mandatory reconsideration. However, decision makers recognise the need to ensure that all decisions are notified without delay. Indeed, usually decision letters are generated automatically and sent immediately once the decision itself has been made.

Work Programme: Greater Manchester

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money from the public purse was paid to work programme providers in Greater Manchester in each relevant year since 2010.

Alok Sharma: The Department’s Work Programme does not have a contract covering just Greater Manchester, so the information can not be provided at the level of detail requested. However, there is a contract covering Greater Manchester, Chester and Warrington. The expenditure on this contract is shown in the table below.  2011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/17 £m£m£m£m£m£mGreater Manchester, Chester & Warrington183246463223 Notes: The Work Programme started during 2011/12, therefore no data is available for 2010/11. The 2017/18 indicative total outturn cannot be released as the Department's accounts have yet to be finalised, audited and approved.

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2018 to Question 144202, how many universal credit claimants have had a disputed earnings referral in respect of their claim in each month since April 2017.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is attached.



Table
(Word Document, 15.51 KB)

Employment and Support Allowance: Motor Neurone Disease

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether plans she has to exempt people with Motor Neurone Disease who are in receipt of the higher rate of Employment Support Allowance from being required to undertake a reassessment of their capability to work.

Sarah Newton: Entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance is based on a how a person’s health condition affects their functional capability to work. This means that we do not make exemptions from the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) process based solely on medical conditions. Since 29 September 2017, those placed in ESA’s Support Group and the UC equivalent who have the most severe and lifelong health conditions or disabilities, whose level of function would always mean that they would have Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity, and be unlikely ever to be able to move into work, will no longer be routinely reassessed. The Department’s Severe Conditions guidance used by Healthcare Professionals, who undertake the assessments, has been designed to have the least possible impact on claimants. We will ask claimants to complete a new health questionnaire, and where appropriate we will ask their General Practitioner or Specialist Healthcare Professional for further, supporting evidence, so that in the vast majority of cases we should be able to make a decision on whether someone meets the criteria without the need for a face to face assessment. However I have previously met representatives of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, and listened to their concerns regarding the reassessment process. I have assured the Association that I will look carefully at how the reassessment process works for people with Motor Neurone Disease.

Personal Independence Payment

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average (a) mode, (b) mean and (c) median time taken for personal independence payments to be made is, from the date on which the application is made.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, latest data on median clearance times from registration to DWP decision up until 31st January 2018 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-january-2018.The next quarterly release is due to be published on 12th June 2018 which would cover data up to April 2018.

Occupational Pensions: Females

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of women participating in a workplace pension scheme in Hendon constituency.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to encourage self-employed people to save for their retirement.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have a work-place pension as a result of auto-enrolment in Hendon constituency.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the merits of automatic enrolment to help people to save for a private pension.

Guy Opperman: Automatic enrolment (AE) is a great success story with more than 9.6 million workers enrolled into pensions saving and over 1.2 million employers meeting their duties. It was created to help people with their long-term pension savings and works by requiring employers to enrol all eligible staff into a workplace pension. This policy has helped to reverse a decade of decline in savings prior to AE. An estimated 10 million people will be newly saving or saving more later this year and less than 10% of people have opted-out of their workplace pension. In Hendon constituency, approximately 14,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 2,470 employers have met their duties. We do not hold constituency level data for the number of women automatically enrolled. AE is helping those who were historically disadvantaged in terms of occupational pension provision to build up their retirement savings, and they are often women and lower earners. Since the introduction of AE the proportion of women employed full-time in the private sector without a workplace pension has decreased from 65 per cent in 2012 to 31 per cent in 2016. It is also equalising the rate of workplace pension participation among eligible men and women. In 2016, 73 per cent of eligible men and women in the private sector were saving into a workplace pension compared with 43 per cent and 40 per cent of eligible men and women respectively in the private sector in 2012. The Government’s 2017 review of AE report - Maintaining the Momentum - sets out our ambition for strengthening the framework of workplace pension saving for lower paid workers (many of whom are women working part-time). Over the coming year we will work to build a renewed consensus to deliver the detailed design and implementation of our proposals. That includes working to deliver the Government’s manifesto commitment to improve pension participation and retirement outcomes amongst self-employed people. The self-employed represent a highly diverse group of around 15 per cent of the workforce amongst whom pension coverage varies significantly. The AE review report recognised that while a significant proportion of the 4.8m self-employed individuals in the UK have good levels of saving and preparation for later life, there are significant numbers of self-employed people who are under saving, or at risk of under saving for retirement.We are investigating the most effective ways to address this, learning from the principles and successful roll-out of automatic enrolment to appropriately target interventions and understand what works, and we are utilising pensions’ industry expertise. DWP and HMT held a recent innovation event with the Association of British Insurers (ABI), exploring how technology and existing financial products could be part of the solution to enabling self-employed people to build retirement savings for their later life. Government will test and develop targeted interventions for the self-employed, starting later this year, before setting out our proposals to implement workable solutions at scale.

Access to Work Programme

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the value to beneficiaries of increasing the access to work grant from £42,000 to £57,000.

Sarah Newton: The value to beneficiaries is outlined in ‘An update to the equality analysis for the 'Future of Access to Work, May 2015', published 9 May 2018. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-access-to-work-an-update-to-the-may-2015-equality-analysis/an-update-to-the-equality-analysis-for-the-future-of-access-to-work-may-2015

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Air Pollution: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where York is placed in the national rankings for air quality and pollution.

David Rutley: Defra assess concentrations of a range of pollutants across the UK, with national monitoring and modelling data available at https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/interactive-mapand https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/gis-mapping. This includes data from two monitoring stations in York; data from the York Bootham site is available at https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/flat_files?site_id=YK10 and data from the York Fishergate site is available at https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/flat_files?site_id=YK11. We do not publish national rankings for air quality.

Dogs: Animal Welfare

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 on the number of dogs left at home for long periods of time.

George Eustice: In the recently updated Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs developed with the canine sector, we advise that people do not leave their dog unattended in situations, or for periods of time that are likely to cause them distress or render them unsafe. The Code applies to all dogs. The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 provide statutory minimum welfare standards for dog breeding, animal boarding and other licensed activities involving animals. The statutory conditions seek to modernise the welfare requirements on licensed premises, and have been developed with the full support of and engagement with the Canine and Feline Sector Group that represents vets, local authorities, the pet industry and welfare charities.

Clean Air Zones: Greater Manchester

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has undertaken an economic impact assessment of the effects of clean air zones and associated air quality measures on businesses in (a) Manchester and (b) Greater Manchester; and if he will make a statement.

David Rutley: The Government assessed the impacts of charging clean air zones on businesses nationally in the technical report accompanying the 2017 UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations. This did not look at the impacts on Manchester, or Greater Manchester as whole, or in isolation. As set out in the UK plan, it is the responsibility of local authorities, as part of their feasibility studies, to assess the impact a local plan could have on individuals and businesses, including through an economic impact assessment and a distributional and equalities impact analysis. This also includes the consultation of relevant stakeholders where appropriate. In the case of Greater Manchester, Transport for Greater Manchester is coordinating work with local authorities to develop their local air quality plan.

Clean Air Zones: Greater Manchester

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with small and medium-sized businesses in (a) Manchester and (b) Greater Manchester on the financial effect on their businesses of proposed clean air zones and associated air quality measures.

David Rutley: The Government has not had direct discussions with small and medium-sized businesses in Manchester or Greater Manchester about the financial effect of clean air zones. We assessed the impacts of charging clean air zones on businesses nationally in the technical report accompanying the 2017 UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations. This did not look at the impacts in Manchester or Greater Manchester in isolation. The UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations and the documents associated with it, such as the clean air zone framework, were consulted on, inviting relevant stakeholders to submit their views. As set out in the UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations, it is the responsibility of local authorities, as part of their feasibility studies, to assess the impact a local plan could have on individuals and businesses, including through an economic impact assessment and a distributional and equalities impact analysis. This also includes consultation of relevant stakeholders where appropriate. In the case of Greater Manchester, Transport for Greater Manchester is coordinating work with local authorities to develop their local air quality plan.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many contractors have been employed by his Department for (a) up to one year, (b) between one and five years, (c) between five and 10 years and (d) over 10 years.

George Eustice: Defra’s systems do not differentiate between contractors and other types of contingent worker. The table below therefore sets out the number of contingent workers in the Core Department as at 31 March 2018. Length of timeNumber of contingent workers(a) Up to one year347(b) Between one and five years113(c) Between five and 10 years3(d) Over 10 years0

Ulster Farmers Union

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has met representatives of the Ulster Farmers' Union since the referendum on the UK leaving the EU; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: Ministers and officials are in regular contact with stakeholders from all of the devolved administrations. Last year the Secretary of State met representatives from the Ulster Farmers’ Union at the Antrim Show in July. The Secretary of State also chaired a roundtable discussion on 28 September, attended by stakeholders including those from the Ulster Farmers’ Union. I also met with representatives from the devolved administrations on 21 March, at one of a series of roundtable meetings held during our consultation, Health and harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit, which closed on 8 May. A report of the findings of the consultation will be published in due course. The Government has committed to work closely with the devolved administrations and stakeholders to deliver an approach that works for the whole of the UK and reflects the individual needs of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Staff

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff have been employed by his Department in each month since June 2016.

George Eustice: The number of permanent payroll staff employed by month in the department since June 2016 is shown in the table below: MonthHeadcountJune 20161693July 20161705August 20161720September 20161726October 20161719November 20161759December 20161808January 20171820February 20171907March 20171950April 20172188May 20172245June 20172301July 20172340August 20172442September 20172437October 20172523November 20173504December 20173535January 20183557February 20183613March 20183660April 20183697 The increase in headcount is predominantly a result of consolidating Defra’s corporate services into the core department from across the Defra group and the recruitment of additional staff to support our comprehensive EU exit programme of work.

Japanese Knotweed

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government is making on its strategy to tackle the spread of Japanese knotweed.

George Eustice: The government recognises the threats posed by invasive non-native species including Japanese knotweed and has a comprehensive Great Britain Non-native Species Strategy designed to tackle these threats, the first of its kind in Europe. Defra continues to fund a biocontrol programme through the release of a psyllid insect to tackle Japanese knotweed. If successful, the psyllid will reduce the invasive capacity of Japanese knotweed as well as the effort and cost of managing it. Local Action Groups, with support from government, are actively involved in reducing and eradicating Japanese knotweed. A new EU co-funded project, totalling €1.1 million, will develop a regional approach to tackling invasive non-native species, supporting Local Action Groups in a co-ordinated approach. Natural England and the Environment Agency also undertake action nationally to remove Japanese knotweed where it is affecting protected sites, water quality or adds to the risk of flooding. Japanese knotweed is listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it an offence to allow the plant to escape or cause it to grow in the wild. Whilst landowners are under no statutory obligation to remove Japanese knotweed from their property, where they are acting unreasonably and allowing Japanese knotweed to cause a nuisance to the local community, local authorities and the police can now issue a Community Protection Notice against them to ensure that appropriate action is taken. The government has developed guidance on how to prevent the spread of Japanese knotweed, which can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-japanese-knotweed-from-spreading

Home Office

Radicalism

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the independent review by David Anderson QC entitled Attacks in London and Manchester, published in December 2017, whether the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre is now responsible for producing national threat assessments of terrorist threats arising from domestic extremism.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the independent review by David Anderson QC entitled Attacks in London and Manchester, published in December 2017, whether (a) MI5 (b) and the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre will take on an increased role in domestic extremism work; and if she will make a statement.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the independent review by David Anderson QC entitled Attacks in London and Manchester, published in December 2017, what assessment her Department has made of ending the operational use of the terms domestic extremism and international counter-terrorism.

Mr Ben Wallace: As the Home Secretary told the house in her oral statement following publication of David Anderson's report, the Government is confident that David Anderson, MI5 and the Police asked the right questions and drew the right conclusions in their reviews following the attacks in London and Manchester between March and June 2017. Work on implementation is in progress and the Home Office is working closely with MI5, JTAC and the Police to ensure the recommendations are delivered.In line with the recommendations, JTAC and MI5 accept they have a role to play in tackling this growing threat and are expanding their involvement in work to combat domestic terrorism. The Home Office acknowledges the benefit of updating the terms 'domestic extremism' and 'international counter terrorism’. We will publish our updated CONTEST strategy in the coming weeks.

Immigrants: Caribbean

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Windrush generation cases are being considered for people in (a) Haringey and (b) Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.

Caroline Nokes: Data held by the Department, on individuals that the taskforce is helping to confirm their status in the UK, cannot be broken down to the level of detail requested.

Immigration: Crime

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of immigration crime his Department received from the Department for Work and Pensions in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: Data is available from 30 September 2012. Since that time records show that the Department for Work and Pensions did not share any intelligence concerning immigration abuse in 2012, they shared it once in 2013, 171 in 2014, 1,377 in 2015, 1,544 in 2016, 1,123 in 2017 and on 262 occasions to date in 2018.

Immigration: Crime

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many communications his Department received from hon. Members and their offices on immigration enforcement hotlines during 2017.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office recorded receipt of information from Members of Parliament on 73 occasions. Of those 12 were received via the online service, 48 by email, 2 by fax, 9 by letter and 2 by telephone.

Immigration: Crime

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of immigration crime his Department received from members of the public in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: Data is available from 30 September 2012. Since that time members of the public reported to the Home Office 9,003 times in 2012, 54,809 in 2013, 47,317 in 2014, 50,126 in 2015, 45,539 in 2016, 43,356 in 2017 and 15,999 times to date in 2018.

Immigration: Crime

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of immigration crime his Department received from HMRC in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: Data is available from 30 September 2012. Since that time records show that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs did not share intelligence concerning immigration abuse with the Home Office in 2012 or 2013 and did so subsequently on 41 occasions in 2014, 319 in 2015, 259 in 2016, 151 in 2017 and on 62 occasions to date in 2018.

Asylum: Education

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support his Department makes available to ensure that newly arrived asylum seekers placed in initial accommodation have immediate access to the education system.

Caroline Nokes: The issue of education provision for children seeking asylum is an important one and the Home Office makes every effort to ensure that families with children who claim asylum support have access to education at the earliest opportunity.To enable access to education, internal checks are in place to identify applications involving children of school age for priority dispersal from initial accommodation facilities into permanent accommodation.

Home Office and Police: Kosovo

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) staff from his Department and (b) officers from UK police forces have been assigned to roles in the (i) British Embassy, Pristina, (ii) United Nations Mission in Kosovo, (iii) NATO Kosovo Force, (iv) European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, and (v) other international organisations' missions in Kosovo in each year since 2008.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office has no centrally held record of any staff or UK police officers being posted to a role in the British Embassy in Pristina from 2008 to date. Since 2013, 4 police officers have been deployed to the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo. We have no centrally held records covering Home Office staff or police officers being deployed to other agencies relating to Kosovo or the period before 2013.

Seasonal Workers: EEA Nationals

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that British businesses can continue to recruit temporary workers from the European Economic Area to meet seasonal demand for the hospitality and tourism industry after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: The precise way in which the Government will control migration to the UK following exit from the EU is yet to be determined.In July 2017, the Government commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on the economic and social impacts of the UK’s exit from the European Union and also on how the UK’s immigration system should be aligned with a modern industrial strategy. The MAC’s call for evidence sought information on EU migrants’ skills, amongst other things, and this will be considered in their final report due in September 2018.We will build a comprehensive picture of the needs and interests of all parts of the UK, taking account of the evidence from the MAC, and look to develop a system which works for all.

Police: Biometrics

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to ensure that the facial recognition software that law enforcement bodies use is accurate.

Mr Nick Hurd: Facial recognition systems can be used to compare people in public spaces to images on a pre-determined list and provide suggested matches to a human operator. The rate of suggested matching will depend on the system, the images and the circumstances of the deployment. They will produce false positive matches which it would be for the operator to consider including any follow up procedure.The decision to deploy such systems is an operational one for police forces but they must comply with Data Protection Legislation and show regard to the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, the Information Commissioner’s Code of Practice and other relevant policies and legislation.

Immigration

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time is to process an immigration application for (a) a Visa and (b) leave to remain.

Caroline Nokes: Published data on visa and leave to remain processing times, is published online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data (then listed by publication date under ‘UK Visas & Immigration’).We continually monitor and review our performance against service standards.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Commonwealth Taskforce will have access the records of (a) HMRC and (b) police records to confirm the status of Windrush generation migrants.

Caroline Nokes: The taskforce will use all available evidence provided by the individual and from access to other available sources, including HMRC and police records, to confirm the status of Windrush generation individuals.

Racially Aggravated Offences: Lancashire

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of race hate crime were recorded in Lancashire in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of hate crime offences recorded by the police by monitored strand, including racial hate crime, in England and Wales by financial year and Police Force Area. The latest data are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/651921/prc-hate-crime-open-data.odsData for 2017/18 are due to be published in October 2018.This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has a strong legislative framework and there is a cross Government approach through the Hate Crime Action Plan, due to be refreshed later this year.

Police: Emergency Calls

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment his Department has made of any correlation between trends in police response times and trends in the number of police officers.

Mr Nick Hurd: The deployment of resources is an operational matter for the police. Before making decisions on the 2018/19 police funding settlement, I spoke to every police force in England and Wales to understand how demands on them were changing.This year, we have enabled Police and Crime Commissioners to increase their direct funding by £280m through greater flexibility to raise precept. Most PCCs have set out plans to use this additional income to protect or enhance front line policing.

Abortion: Clinics

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many submissions his Department has received to the review into harassment and intimidation near abortion clinics; and when he expects to publish the outcome of that review.

Mr Nick Hurd: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Sheffield Heeley on the 19th March 2018, UIN 132535.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what target his Department has been set for the processing of applications by non-UK EU citizens for (a) temporary and (b) settled status.

Caroline Nokes: We are developing a streamlined, user-friendly, digital application process for the EU Settlement Scheme, which draws on existing government data to minimise the burden on applicants.As the then-Immigration Minister, my Right Honourable Friend, the Member for Great Yarmouth told the Home Affairs Select Committee on 21 November 2017, our aim is to process standard applications in a couple of weeks.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government's policy is on the status of non-UK EU citizens who fail to apply for (a) temporary (b) settled status by 31 December 2020.

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what charges are levied on non-UK EU citizens applying for (a) temporary status (b) settled status.

Caroline Nokes: EU citizens and their family members who are covered by our agreement with the EU on citizens’ rights, and who have not obtained UK immigration status under the settlement scheme by the end of the grace period, 30 June 2021, will technically have no lawful basis to remain in the UK. However, the draft Withdrawal Agreement provides that where there are reasonable compassionate or practical grounds for missing the deadline, those persons will be allowed to submit an application within a reasonable further period of time. A proportionate approach will be taken and cases will be considered on their individual merits.The application fee for the EU exit settlement scheme will not exceed the cost charged to British citizens for a UK passport. Those who already hold a valid EU permanent residence document or a valid document evidencing their Indefinite Leave to Remain will be able to exchange this for a new settled status free of charge. Full details of the application fee will be published in due course.

Passports: Applications

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of first-time Passport applicants were required to attend an interview in each of the last three years.

Caroline Nokes: The table below shows proportions of UK based First Time Adult (FTA) customers attending interview over the last 3 years. However, not all FTA, for example HM Forces service personnel serving in the UK and overseas are required to attend an interview.YearNumber of UK First Time Adult ApplicationsNumber of UK First Time Adult InterviewsProportion of UK FTA Intake to Interviews2015286,640222,26478%2016325,793244,55575%2017293,647177,54060% The reduction in the 2017 proportions being interviewed is due to the option for individuals applying for citizenship to opt for the Joint Citizenship and Passport Application Process (JCAP).HM Passport Office does not require FTA customers using JCAP to attend an interview as identity is confirmed through the naturalisation process.

Immigration: Biometrics

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the average waiting time for the issuing a biometric permit by immigration status.

Caroline Nokes: The information you have requested is not included in statistics published by the Home Office.The information requested is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost by examination of thousands of cases.However, published information on the number of applications for leave to remain in all categories, as well as data on UK Visa and Immigration performance against service standards for applications made in the UK and from overseas, can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration

Racial Hatred: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of race hate crime have been recorded in Coventry in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number hate crime offences recorded by the police by monitored strand, including racial hate crime, in England and Wales. Data are not available at a lower geographical level than Police Force Area. The latest data, including figures for the West Midlands, are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/651921/prc-hate-crime-open-data.odsData for 2017/18 are due to be published in October 2018.This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has a strong legislative framework and there is a cross Government approach through the Hate Crime Action Plan, due to be refreshed later this year.

Refugees: Government Assistance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to support refugees into education and employment upon their arrival in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: The Government published the Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper on 14th March, which includes proposals to work with civil society and others to increase the integration support available to all refugees. The consultation is available online and will close on 5th June.Adults with refugee status can access education and employment support through mainstream services, and child refugees can access mainstream education in schools, or, if 16-18, with further education providers. Adult refugees are eligible for the same skills funding as any English resident and are not subject to the normal three-year qualifying period. English language tuition is fully funded for refugees who are unemployed and looking for work.We recognise that there are additional challenges that refugees can face when looking for work. Refugees can access employment support from Jobcentre Plus and we continue to work closely with colleagues in DWP to ensure refugees are aware of, and receive, the support they are entitled to.We have made additional support available to those whom we resettle under the Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme, in particular by providing funding for increased English language support: £10m for formal ESOL provision, and some additional funding to provide childcare to facilitate access to classes and to enable better coordination of service provision and sharing of good practice. We have also funded a pilot project to provide additional employment support and are now evaluating what it has delivered. We will be sharing the learning from the pilot with other Government Departments.

Prince Harry: Marriage

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2018 to Question 142892 on Prince Harry: Marriage, whether since that Answer (a) Thames Valley Police or (b) the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner submitted an application to his Department for Special Grant funding for additional costs associated with policing the royal wedding.

Mr Nick Hurd: We have not received any application for funding in respect of the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Officials are in regular contact with the police force and will provide any assistance necessary should the Police and Crime Commissioner choose to submit an application. As I set out in my response to the Hon Member for Edinburgh East, I will carefully consider any such application.

Migrant Workers: Deportation

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who had held tier 1 (general) visas have been removed from the UK in the last 12 months as a result of a decision based on s322(5) of the Immigration Rules.

Caroline Nokes: Data is not held centrally in a way that allows us to give an up to date answer to this question without manually checking individual case records which could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost.

Immigration: Appeals

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his Department's policy is on contesting an appeal against refusal of leave to remain in the UK once it has received legal advice that the appeal is (a) highly likely to succeed and (b) certain to succeed.

Caroline Nokes: When deciding whether to contest any litigation we will always take the merits of the case into account, this will include carefully considering any legal advice that we receive.

Immigration: Appeals

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the costs to the public purse were of defending the appeal in the case of Ahsan and others v SSHD [2017] EWCA Civ 2009.

Caroline Nokes: When deciding whether to contest any litigation we will always consider the value for money of doing so. Costs for this matter have not been concluded to date.

West Yorkshire Police: Finance

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for West Yorkshire Police.

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Mr Nick Hurd: Before making decisions on the 2018/19 police funding settlement, I spoke to every police force in England and Wales to understand how demands on them were changing. This year, we have enabled Police and Crime Commissioners to increase their direct funding by £280m through greater flexibility to raise precept. In West Yorkshire, the PCC used this flexibility to increase his direct funding by £9.9m this year.Fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work. Overall fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.3 billion in 2018/19. In 2018/19 West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority will receive £79.1m in core spending power. This is an increase of 0.8% compared with 2017/18. In addition, at March 2017, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority held £33m in reserve, equivalent to 42% of core spending power.

Wales Office

Agriculture: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate his Department has made of the funding from agricultural subsidies which would be required to maintain the current level of farming in Wales after the UK leaves the Common Agricultural Policy.

Alun Cairns: Under the terms of the financial settlement, signed off by both UK and EU Commission negotiators in a draft Withdrawal Agreement and welcomed by the EU-27 at March European Council, the UK will continue to participate in all EU programmes funded by the 2014-20 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Agricultural funding will, therefore, be unaffected by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU for the remainder of this MFF. Beyond 2020, this Government has also pledged to continue to commit the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of the parliament, expected in 2022. This is a greater level of security and certainty for farmers and landowners than anywhere else in the EU, where funding has only been agreed up until 2020.

Scotland Office

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the tendering process for the new solid support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

David Mundell: Holding answer received on 23 May 2018



I have regular discussions with the Defence Secretary and other Cabinet colleagues on a number of matters. The National Shipbuilding Strategy stated that all non-warships, including the Fleet Solid Support ships (FSS) will be competed internationally, confirming the pre-existing procurement strategy for the FSS. The Strategy had collective Government agreement prior to publication. The MOD is required by law to procure FSS through competition in accordance with its obligations under the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations (DSPCR) 2011 where there is no lawful exemption which can be applied. The MOD has actively encouraged UK shipyards to take part in the competition and we anticipate strong bids from UK shipyards.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Sick Leave

Luciana Berger: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of his Department's staff have had days off sick because of mental illness or stress in each of the last three years; and how many days off that amounted to in each of those years.

Oliver Dowden: The table below sets out information about working days lost in my Department due to sickness absence related to mental illness or stress in each of the last three calendar years.Calendar Year201520162017No. of Staff374382% of Staff1.3%1.2%1.4%Working Days Lost144311922225 In the year to 31st December 2017, an average of 2.15 working days were lost through sickness absence in the Cabinet Office. Levels of sickness absence in my Department remain amongst the lowest of all Government Departments.   The Cabinet Office is committed to reducing work related absence due to mental illness and has a number of services in place to support members of staff suffering from such conditions. Our Workwell community is staffed by volunteers who aim to make Cabinet Office a happy and healthy workplace through a number of interventions including a listening service for staff. We offer a 24 hour counselling support helpline through our Employee Assistance Programme provider and advocate early referral to our occupational health service where appropriate, for advice on a number of conditions including mental health. The Cabinet Office also has a pool of trained Mental Health First Aiders who provide face to face support and signposting to professional services.

Public Sector: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his oral contribution to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 9 May 2018, which parts of the Social Value Act 2012 are being examined as part of the Sourcing public services: lessons learned from the collapse of Carillion inquiry.

Oliver Dowden: In answer to this line of questioning at the PACAC hearing on 9 May, John Manzoni (not the Minister for Cabinet Office) stated that when contracts are renegotiated social value is among the factors taken into account. Following the Carillion insolvency, the Cabinet Office is carrying out an internal lessons learned exercise, in order to establish what, if any, changes to public outsourcing process should be made to prevent an event of this scale from happening again. The results of this review will be set out in due course.

Cabinet Office: Paternity Leave

Justin Madders: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many male staff of his Department have taken shared parental leave; and what the average length was of that leave.

Oliver Dowden: During the financial year 2017/18, our records show that there were 12 instances of male staff in my Department taking shared parental leave. The average length of leave taken was 58 working days. This compares to 5 or fewer instances of shared parental leave taken by male staff during 2016/17. Shared parental leave gives parents a real opportunity to enjoy the early months of childhood. It is a legal right and enables parents to swap some of their maternity or adoption leave and to take the rest more flexibly and as a couple. The Civil Service goes beyond the statutory minimum provision and offers an occupational rate of pay for some of this leave. The Cabinet Office is committed to being a good modern employer and to offering employees and family friendly employment policies that support business needs. This approach supports employee motivation and work life balance. It also helps retain talented employees.

Treasury

Instalment Credit

Caroline Lucas: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2018 to Question 141345 on Instalment Credit, whether (a) he, (b) Ministers of his Department and (c) officials of his Department have discussed the feasibility of introducing a total cap on the cost of rent-to-own goods with the Financial Conduct Authority.

John Glen: Treasury ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. This includes regular meetings with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss relevant regulatory issues. The government has given the FCA strong powers to protect consumers, including the power to cap the cost of credit, and the FCA can do so if it thinks it is necessary to protect consumers. In 2015, the FCA capped the cost of payday lending, and the FCA has said that it will keep the issue of capping the cost of credit in other markets under review. The government welcomes the ongoing work of the FCA to review the high-cost credit market, including the rent-to-own sector. The FCA will publish an update later this month.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Damien Moore: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the sale of illegal tobacco.

Robert Jenrick: The joint HMRC/Border Force strategy to tackle illicit tobacco (‘Tackling Illicit Tobacco: From leaf to light’) published on 24 March 2015 reinforced the government’s commitment to tackle illicit tobacco at all points in the supply chain. This was further demonstrated by increased investment in resources to fight this fraud announced at Summer Budget 2015 and Budget 2016. Effective action requires collaboration across government and HMRC and Border Force work closely with other enforcement agencies, including Trading Standards and the police to target those involved in the fraud. In the last two years alone, over 2.8 billion illicit cigarettes and over 660 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco have been seized resulting in approximately 700 prosecutions. HMRC has also reviewed the impact of sanctions and is currently developing options, with particular focus on the approach taken to repeat offenders. In accordance with international commitments, HMRC is also developing a new track and trace system for tobacco products. This will go live in May 2019 and will make it easier to identify where genuine product has been diverted into the illicit market and more difficult for illicit goods to enter the legitimate market.

Cars: Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Royston Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial incentives the Government makes available to (a) purchase a car that runs on LPG fuel and (b) convert a car to run on LPG fuel.

Royston Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reducing vehicle tax for motorists who drive LPG cars.

Robert Jenrick: The government uses the tax system to encourage the purchase of cars with low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) system works in a technology-neutral manner to encourage the uptake of fuel efficient, low CO2 emitting models irrespective of whether they are fuelled by petrol, diesel or battery power. From 1 March 2001, alternatively fuelled cars, including those powered by Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and bioethanol, as well as hybrids, receive a £10 discount on their annual VED payment. LPG incurs a tax rate of £0.3161 per kg. This is compared with petrol or diesel, which has a tax rate of £0.5795 per litre. At Autumn Budget 2017, we also scrapped the LPG escalator.

Treasury: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many contractors have been employed by his Department for (a) up to one year, (b) between one and five years, (c) between five and 10 years and (d) over 10 years.

Robert Jenrick: The number of contractors employed at HM Treasury is publicly available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/workforce-management--2Information regarding the duration of individual contracts is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Proceeds of Crime

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many investigations HMRC is undertaking into corporate bodies, in relation to offences under (a) section 327-329 and (b) section 330 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2017.

Mel Stride: HMRC cannot comment on ongoing criminal investigations into individuals or businesses. However, HMRC is committed to tackling money laundering, including the abuse of corporate entities, and investigates companies where money laundering can be attributed to individuals who are directing minds of the company.HMRC also investigates individuals who are officers of companies but are prosecuted for their personal behaviours rather than that of the company. HMRC’s records do not categorise whether investigations and subsequent convictions are in respect of the individual working as an officer for the company or in relation to their personal activity.In the last three years, HMRC has achieved 101 convictions for POCA money laundering and Money Laundering Regulation offences. HMRC received investment at Autumn Budget 2017 to increase its capability and target the facilitators of tax crime and money laundering, including enforcing provisions in the Criminal Finances Act 2017, which will deliver an additional £700m by 2023. HMRC has a strong track record of tackling those who have evaded their responsibilities or those who have facilitated tax evasion and is successful in over 90% of prosecutions.

Proceeds of Crime

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions HMRC have initiated as a result of breaches of the (a) Proceeds of Crime Act 2017 and (b) Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and 2017 by Trust and Company Service providers.

Mel Stride: In 2017/18 HMRC secured 46 Positive Charging Decisions against individuals for POCA money laundering or regulatory offences from the relevant prosecution authorities. Of these 46, three were individuals associated with Trust and Company Service Providers, seven were individuals associated with other regulated business and the remaining 36 were individuals where the money laundering was part of wider criminality. This reflects HMRC’s multi-faceted role in identifying and tackling money laundering, including abuses of businesses it supervises under the Money Laundering Regulations. Prosecution is but one option available to HMRC, and as part of its wider remit, also focuses on supervisory interventions to ensure businesses are complying with their obligations. The actions HMRC takes to discharge those supervisory responsibilities and it wider role in tackling financial crime, are described in a recent publication ‘Report on Tackling Financial Crime in the Supervised Sectors 2015-2017’ https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/704163/Report_on_Tackling_Financial_Crime_in_the_supervised_sectors_2015_to_2017.pdfHMRC has a strong track record of tackling those who have evaded their responsibilities or those who have facilitated tax evasion and is successful in over 90% of prosecutions.

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Jenny Chapman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff have been employed by HM Revenue and Customs in each month since June 2016.

Mel Stride: Headcount of staff employed each month by HMRC from June 2016 is in the table below: MonthHMRC Head CountJun-1667,450Jul-1667,645Aug-1667,654Sep-1668,041Oct-1668,736Nov-1669,013Dec-1669,280Jan-1769,280Feb-1769,518Mar-1769,879Apr-1769,599May-1769,888Jun-1770,015Jul-1769,771Aug-1768,376Sep-1768,424Oct-1768,076Nov-1767,849Dec-1767,088Jan-1866,566Feb-1866,162Mar-1865,720Apr-1865,287

Gold: VAT

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse has been of the value added tax exemption for gold investment coins in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Mel Stride: The details that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collects from taxpayers on their VAT returns are not specific enough to provide the information requested.

Company Cars: Taxation

Neil Parish: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the benefit-in-kind surcharge for diesel has been increased from three per cent to four per cent; and what assessment he has made of the effect of this increase on leases which were agreed on the basis of a three per cent supplement.

Robert Jenrick: Road transport is responsible for 80% of nitrogen dioxide emissions in roadside tests. Even the latest diesel models produce, on average, six times more nitrogen oxide (NOx) in real-world tests compared to lab tests. The diesel supplement for company car tax aims to encourage manufacturers to bring forward next-generation clean diesels sooner. Cars which meet the Real Driving Emissions Step 2 standard are not liable to pay the supplement. Each year, 350,000 company car drivers replace their vehicle. This means that, within a few years, most affected drivers will have the opportunity to choose cleaner models.

Child Care Vouchers: Data Protection

Tracy Brabin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department has issued to childcare voucher providers on changes to data-handling as a result of the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) recognise the challenges facing organisations across the UK in their preparations for the General Data Protection Regulation. The ICO is leading on providing guidance and support to UK organisations and has published a number of resources on the Commissioner's website (ico.org.uk) to help all organisations prepare.

Sugar: Taxation

Tom Watson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to extend the sugar levy to (a) milk drinks containing sugar and (b) confectionery; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: The government will review the exemption for milk drinks containing added sugar from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy in 2020. Given the nature of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy it would not be possible to extend it from drinks to food, a new tax would be required. The government does not have any plans to create such a sugar tax at this time.

Treasury: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many contractors currently employed by his Department are paid £1,000 or more per day.

Robert Jenrick: There are no contractors currently employed by HM Treasury paid more than £1000 a day.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Boxing

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a recognised governing body for white collar boxing; and if he will make a statement.

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the regulatory and statutory framework relating to white collar boxing events.

Tracey Crouch: The Government does not determine whether sports should introduce a national governing body, this is for the sport to decide. The process for National Governing Body recognition is a joint policy operated by the four home country sports councils (Sport England, Sport Northern Ireland, Sport Scotland, Sport Wales) and UK Sport. The aim of the recognition process is to identify a single lead NGB structure which governs a sport at UK, GB or home country level.

Service Industries and Tourism

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the value of seasonal migrant labour to the UK's hospitality and tourism industry.

Michael Ellis: According to the DCMS economic estimates, the tourism sector directly provides approximately 1.5m jobs at all entry levels across the UK. We do not currently hold data on the number of seasonal roles.

Sportsgrounds: Safety

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to amend its policy on safe standing; and if he will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch: This Government believe that all-seater stadia are currently the best means to ensure the safety and security of fans at designated football matches in England and Wales, but we continue to work closely with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and football authorities to consider relevant advances in technology and data.

Tourism

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the value to the UK economy of the outbound tourism industry.

Michael Ellis: UK residents made 72.3m visits abroad in the 12 months to December 2017 and spent £44.7bn. Both figures were up 2% on the same period last year.

Tourism

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the annual spend in the UK’s domestic tourism sector in each of the last five years.

Michael Ellis: The Great Britain Tourism Survey and the Great Britain Day Visits Survey show that domestic spend for Great Britain over the previous 5 years has been as follows:  20132014201520162017Domestic overnight spend (£bn)£23.3£22.7£24.8£23.1£23.7Domestic day visit spend (£bn)£62.0£61.8£61.9£63.9£62.4Total domestic spend (£bn)£85.3£84.5£86.8£87.0£86.1  Sources:Great Britain Tourism Survey:2017 Overview; GB All Trip PurposesGreat Britain Day Visits Survey: 2017 Regional and Demographic Breakdown

Youth Services

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of money spent from the public purse on youth services in (a) 1997, (b) 2007, (c) 2010 and (d) 2017.

Tracey Crouch: Local authorities are responsible for allocating funding to youth services in line with local need. The Government has made over £200bn available to local authorities to spend on local services over this Spending Review. The Government is committed to making sure young people have opportunities to develop their skills and participate in their communities. The Office for Civil Society (OCS), now based in DCMS, has spent over £667m on youth programmes and supporting youth service delivery between 2014/15 and 2017/18 - with £190m of that being spent in 2017/18. DCMS does not hold data for spending on youth services for 1997, 2007 or 2010 as the department did not hold responsibility for youth policy prior to 2014.

Football: Safety

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether a mechanism is in place to allow a football club that has introduced a safe standing area to retain that area if it is promoted to the top two tiers of English football.

Tracey Crouch: The government’s all-seater stadium policy precludes the use of standing accommodation at clubs in the top two tiers of English football. Spectator safety at sports grounds remains the priority for Government. The Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) is the regulatory body responsible for overseeing and advising on safety at sports grounds. The government will continue to learn from the latest data, research, and advances in technology to improve the safety of spectators, but we have yet to see robust evidence of a safer approach to protecting spectators at football matches than the existing all-seater arrangements.

Independent Press Standards Organisation

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the Independent Press Standards Organisation to apply for approval under the Press Recognition Panel.

Margot James: Seeking approval from the Press Recognition Panel is a decision for independent press regulators. The Government is committed to the system of independent self-regulation for the press.

Data Protection

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) rights and (b) protections are available to people to prevent data on them that is held by organisations being destroyed under the provisions of the the General Data Protection Regulation implementation process.

Margot James: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force on 25 May 2018. It places obligations on organisations to process people's data lawfully, fairly and transparently. This includes making it clear to people how their data will be used, for how long it will be held and when it will be erased. The GDPR also provides individuals with increased control over their own data by conferring certain rights, such as the right to seek restriction of processing. This would allow an individual to oppose the erasure of personal data where he or she believed the processing activities of the organisation were unlawful.

Women and Equalities

LGBT People: Surveys

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to publish the outcome of the national LGBT survey; and if she will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: We will publish the results of the national LGBT survey ahead of Summer Recess. We are currently considering how we will update Parliament on the outcome of the survey. Having received an unprecedented number of over 100,000 responses to the LGBT survey, analysing the results is a significant undertaking that we want to get right. These results will be used to inform plans to further LGBT equality in the UK, including our LGBT Action Plan.

Females: Voting Rights

Giles Watling: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 124453, what further plans there are to celebrate the centenary of women being allowed to vote.

Victoria Atkins: The government’s £5 million suffrage centenary fund supports a whole range of projects throughout 2018. In December 2017, the Women’s Votes Centenary Grant Scheme opened and has funded 94 projects awarding around £750,000, including in Essex. More information regarding the application process and criteria can be found online: www.womensvotecentenaryfund.co.uk April 24th marked the unveiling of the first female statue in Parliament Square, honouring leading suffragist Millicent Fawcett. The funding for the statue came from the £5 million centenary fund. Projects are ongoing in the seven centenary towns and cities that received a share of £1.2 million from the fund- Bolton, Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, London, Manchester and Nottingham. The fund has contributed to PROCESSIONS, a public artwork by Artichoke and 1418Now who are working with a range of collaborators. On 10 June, the procession will see crowds of people dressed in green, white and violet moving as a live suffragette flag through the streets of the four capital cities. More information on future events across the country can be found on the events hub here: https://celebratingvotesforwomen.campaign.gov.uk/ The Centenary fund is supporting a suite of education projects to increase young people's knowledge of UK democracy and its importance, and increase their democratic participation.The remainder of the £5m will fund projects including:A programme to help develop the leadership potential of young womenThe closing ceremony for the 3-month festival of The Great Exhibition of the North, which will commemorate the centenary and encourage more women to participate in politics